There was a job vacancy for taking care of the Great Barrier Reef!
Ben did a lot during his time
2 . After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Wildlife research in the United States. | B．Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area. |
| C．The conflict between farmers and gray wolves. | D．The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park. |
| A．Forced out. | B．Separated. | C．Tested. | D．Tracked down. |
| A．Damage to local ecology (生态). | B．A decline in the park’s income. |
| C．Preservation of vegetation. | D．An increase in the variety of animals. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
注意：1.词数100词左右;2.可以适当增加情节，以使行文连贯。
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4 . Rather than continue living a comfortable urban life, this British family has sold their London home in favor of launching the world’s smallest nature reserve to save a nation’s coral reef system. Karolina and Barry Seath—along with their two young daughters—are preparing to move to an island in the Seychelles (非洲塞舌尔群岛)measuring just 1,300 feet long by 980 feet wide (400 by 300 meters).
They’ve launched a charity and teamed up with(与……合作)local biologists in an effort to bring the coral reefs back to life in the smallest African country, which have been almost wiped out by rising sea temperatures. Their land-based coral farm will be only the second of its kind in the world, the other being on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, to specialize in regrowing coral to restore the reefs.
47-year-old Barry, who is a former policeman, said, “We are just a normal husband, wife and two kids, living the sort of life that most others do, but we felt the need to make a positive change for ourselves, our children, and the world we had largely taken for granted.”
Over the course of several vacations to the Seychelles, the Seaths witnessed the gradual deterioration(恶化)of the reefs. “Every time we visited, we noticed the coral was getting worse and worse,” said Barry. “All the tourists say the same thing. They love the beaches but are really disappointed with the coral.”
Barry felt it was time to make a change and show his daughters an alternative way of eco-friendly living. He then teamed up with experts at the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles in order to develop the facility. Once it is complete, it will be the first large-scale, land-based coral farm in the Indian Ocean. The eco-warriors hope to use the facility to grow around 10,000 corals per year. Barry said, “Our long-term goal is to show everyone that—with just a relatively small investment—you can have a big positive influence on the marine environment.”
1. In what way do the British family save the coral reefs in the Seychelles?| A．They bought an island in the Seychelles. |
| B．They helped to tackle the raising water. |
| C．They cooperated with the local biologists to launch a coral farm. |
| D．They sold their London home to collect money. |
| A．The tourists should do their part to protect the barrier. |
| B．The tourists take the beauty of the Seychelles for granted. |
| C．The family feel the urge to save the corral from being worsened. |
| D．The family lives the same kind of life in the Seychelles as before. |
| A．It will be 1,300 meters long and 980 meters wide. |
| B．It will be the first of its kind in the Indian Ocean. |
| C．It will focus on fighting with rising sea temperatures. |
| D．It will be larger than the one on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. |
| A．Local people will live an eco-friendly life. |
| B．No one will be disappointed with the coral in the Seychelles. |
| C．Everyone can make a difference to the sea environment. |
| D．They will grow around 10,000 corals per year on their coral farm. |
5 . If you’re a real fitness addict, you certainly know the ultimate running challenge is to take part in a marathon. It seems every major city and town around the world hosts an annual marathon, with thousands of athletes running an exhausting 42.1 kilometres. While many runners’ motivation is to beat their personal best and cross the finishing line without collapsing, they’re also doing it for a good cause — to generate funds for charity.
But like other major events, the marathon also generates a massive carbon footprint. Thousands travel – some by plane — to the location, and waste from food packaging and goody bags gets left behind by viewers and runners.
This is becoming a big issue for cities — how to host a worthwhile event, encouraging people to exercise and help charities, while protecting the environment? Several cities have developed formal plans to reduce their environmental impact and promote sustainable ideas. One event in Wales, for example, introduced recycling for old running kit. It’s something that this year’s London Marathon tried to tackle by reducing the number of drink stations on the running route, giving out water in paper cups and offering some drinks in eatable seaweed capsules. They also trialled new bottle belts made from recycled plastic, so 700 runners could carry water bottles with them during their run.
Meanwhile, some people still think running a marathon could be our best foot forward in helping the planet. Dr Andrea Collins from Cardiff University told the BBC: “Training for a marathon makes you more sustainable in day-to-day activities. I started walking or running to work every day. Being environmentally friendly while training kind of sticks with you and becomes a way of life.”
So while you may not be the top runner in a marathon, let’s hope the event, in terms of sustainability, certainly is!
1. What can we know about a marathon from paragraph 1?| A．Everyone desires to join in it. | B．Athletes can finish it with ease. |
| C．Local governments disapprove of it. | D．It can contribute to charitable causes. |
| A．Holding a sustainable event. | B．Raising funds for charities. |
| C．Encouraging people to exercise. | D．Recycling old running facilities. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Doubtful. | D．Conservative. |
| A．Make Marathons Greener | B．How to Run Marathons Properly |
| C．Participate in Marathons Actively | D．What Is Left Behind after Marathons |
China on October 12 officially announced the first group of national parks. Home to nearly 30 percent of the key wildlife species found in China, they cover
The
The Three-River-Source National Park
Commercial activities are banned in the national parks and are all put
7 . From Dec 7 to 19, delegates from around the world met at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (also known as COP15), in Montreal, Canada. After two weeks of intense debate at COP15, delegates agreed on Dec 19 to adopt a landmark plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. “Finally, we reached our destiny. We adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China’s minister of ecology and environment, announced on Dec 19.
The new framework is a commitment by 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by the next decade. It also will increase the expected annual financial assistance from developed countries through 2030 to help developing nations with biodiversity protection.
The aim of COP15 is to ensure biodiversity loss is changed by 2030, and that humans are able to live in harmony with nature by 2050.To realize these objectives can be very challenging. At COP10 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the parties agreed on the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets (爱知生物多样性目标). But, as of now, none of the 20 objectives has been fully realized.
It is important to turn consensus into effective actions. Yet, as recent talks have shown, an aspect of effective international action on stopping climate change is the cooperation of developed countries. Developed countries, however, have fallen short of their responsibility as they have failed to fulfill the obligations according to the COP convention to provide funding and technology to poorer nations who lack the means to combat climate change.
To solve this problem, the framework creates a new biodiversity fund within the UN’s existing Global Environment Facility. This came about as a compromise between developing nations, which wanted a new fund, and developed countries, which did not. In addition, a global youth initiative (倡议) was also released, hoping young people to be leaders and advocates for biodiversity conservation.
1. What is the aim of COP15?| A．To save at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by next decade. |
| B．To stop biodiversity loss and promote harmony between man and nature. |
| C．To strengthen the cooperation between developed and developing countries |
| D．To provide funding and technology to poorer nations to fight climate change. |
| A．To show the parties didn’t fulfill the obligation |
| B．To show the objectives were too high to realize |
| C．To show it is difficult to realize the objectives of COP 15 |
| D．To show Japan didn’t hold the meeting successfully. |
| A．Statistic. | B．Emotion. | C．Intervention. | D．Agreement. |
| A．International cooperation is important. |
| B．A new framework is made in the COP15. |
| C．Joint efforts are needed to fight climate change. |
| D．Historic COP 15 deals are released on biodiversity. |
In their spare time, most young people like to enjoy
In college, Li actively took part in field research. After graduation, he joined a gibbon protection organization where what he mainly needs to do is
Like Li, Chu Wenwen, 27, has also worked to protect animals. As her father is engaged
According to Fan Pengfei,
9 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.
One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.
Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”
Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.
Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.
In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.
1. Which section of a website is the text probably taken from?| A．Around the globe. | B．Technology report. |
| C．The secret of nature. | D．Healthy Lifestyle. |
| A．They attract more insects. | B．They do harm to native plants. |
| C．They turn soil into desert. | D．They break the balance of nature. |
| A．They produce more oxygen. | B．They prevent flooding more effectively. |
| C．They need less care. | D．They add more nutrients to the soil. |
| A．Take effective measures to protect insects. |
| B．Raise environmental awareness on Earth Day. |
| C．Make great effort to better the planet's health. |
| D．Plant native plants to support local environment. |
10 . Environmental pollution and other human activities are leading to thousands of deaths among seabirds, a new study has warned.
Ecological experts tracked the behavior of British and Irish seabirds. They used satellites to track hundreds of the creatures to find out where they went to catch fish at sea. The study can help assess potential impact from human activities and where protected areas of the seas should be.
Lightweight GPS tags were fitted to more than 1,300 adult birds from 29 different colonies around the UK and Ireland, including kittiwakes, shags, razorbills and guillemots. Results from the five-year study show the large areas of sea the four seabird species use. They found it was at least 600,000 square miles, an area three times the size of Spain. It shows how far they travel from their nests in search of food for their chicks. And it shows the use of the seas by all four species concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland, highlighting the importance of conservation measures there.
The four species studied require conservation help, with kittiwake numbers declining 71 percent in the past 25 years and shag populations down 61 percent. This means both seabirds are "red listed" and need urgent protection. Razorbills and guillemots are "amber listed", which means they are considered to need conservation action.
Dr. Ewan, lead author of the research, said, “Many seabirds are at the top of the marine food web. They feed on some small fish but that prey is declining because of human pressures, including climate change. The result is that thousands of sea baby birds are dying each year because their parents can't feed them. For the first time, this study provides us with a full map for the feeding areas for some of our most important seabird species.”
The analysis provides critical data to inform marine management, the experts said.
1. Which is one of the purpose of the study?| A．To find out where to catch more fish. |
| B．To judge which sea should be protected. |
| C．To know the seabirds’ impacts on human beings. |
| D．To study the behaviour of British and Irish seabirds. |
| A．With the help of satellites. | B．With help of the fishermen. |
| C．By observing human activities. | D．By tying GPS tags on the ship. |
| A．France. | B．Ireland. | C．Spain. | D．Scotland. |
| A．Puzzled. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Disappointed. |
