1 . Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares of forest — an area about the size of Iceland — because of cutting down trees. At that rate, some scientists predict the world’s forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years. To handle it, now researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have pioneered a technique to generate wood-like plant materials in a lab. This makes it possible to “grow” a wooden product without cutting down trees.
In the lab, the researchers first take cells from the leaves of a young plant. These cells are cultured in liquid medium for two days, then moved to another medium which contains nutrients and two different hormones (激素). By adjusting the hormone levels, the researchers can tune the physical and mechanical qualities of the cells. Next, the researchers use a 3D printer to shape the cell-based material, and let the shaped material grow in the dark for three months. Finally, the researchers dehydrate (使脱水) the material, and then evaluate its qualities.
They found that lower hormone levels lead to plant materials with more rounded, open cells of lower density (密度), while higher hormone levels contribute to the growth of plant materials with smaller but denser cell structures. Lower or higher density of cell structures makes the plant materials softer or more rigid, helping the materials grow with different wood-like characteristics. What’s more, it’s to be noted that the research process is about 100 times faster than the time it takes for a tree to grow to maturity!
Research of this kind is ground-breaking. “This work demonstrates the great power of a technology,” says lead researcher, Jeffrey Berenstain. “The real opportunity here is to be at its best with what you use and how you use it. This technology can be tuned to meet the requirements you give about shapes, sizes, rigidity, and forms. It enables us to ‘grow’any wooden product in a way that traditional agricultural methods can’t achieve.”
1. Why do researchers at MIT conduct the research?A.To grow more trees. |
B.To protect plant diversity. |
C.To reduce tree losses. |
D.To predict forest disappearance. |
A.Its theoretical basis. |
B.Its key procedures. |
C.Its scientific evidence. |
D.Its usual difficulties. |
A.The hormone levels affect their rigidity. |
B.They are better than naturally grown plants. |
C.Their cells’shapes mainly rely on their density. |
D.Their growth speed determines their characteristics. |
A.It uses new biological materials in lab experiments. |
B.It has a significant impact on worldwide plant growth. |
C.It challenges traditional scientific theories in forestry. |
D.It revolutionizes the way to make wooden products. |
2 . Turning on the air conditioning to its highest setting can bring sweet relief. But your resulting energy bill? Not so much. What if your home could stay cool all on its own—no electricity required?
That’s the prediction of Yi Zheng’s new invention. The associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University in Boston has created a sustainable material named “cooling paper” that can be used to make buildings or other objects able to keep cool without relying on conventional (常规的) cooling systems. Not only does the light-colored material reflect hot solar rays away from the building, it also absorbs heat out of the inside, too—heat that is emitted from electronics, cooking, and human bodies.
Zheng got the idea when he looked at a bucket full of used printing paper, recalling “How could we simply transform that waste material into some functional energy material?” With the help of a high-speed blender (搅拌机) from his home kitchen, Zheng made a mixture out of paper waste, mixed with the material that makes up Teflon (聚四氟乙烯). Then he formed it into water-proof “cooling paper” that could coat homes. The cooling paper can reduce a room’s temperature by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit (6℃).
The cooling paper isn’t just co-friendly in its ability to reduce your energy footprint, but also recyclable. The material can be used, exposed to solar radiation, weather, and varying temperatures, then reduced to a mixture again and reformed without losing a bit of its cooling properties. Zheng says. “We thought there would be maybe 10 percent, 20 percent of loss, but no.”
Zheng doesn’t just aim to reduce your energy bills through his research. He also hopes that his work will help fight against climate change. “The starting point is to reduce the use of carbon-based materials and also to reduce global warming,” Zheng says.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?A.The prediction of the new invention. |
B.The function of the new material. |
C.The difference of the new invention. |
D.The creation of the cooling paper. |
A.Boring. | B.Demanding. |
C.Creative. | D.Unrealistic. |
A.It could keep the room cool without electricity. |
B.It is based on traditional system. |
C.It can barely take in the heat on its own. |
D.It can not resist water. |
A.can predict the weather |
B.greatly affects climate change |
C.has replaced conventional material |
D.is promising in environmental protection |
3 . Ninety-seven percent of Earth's water is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn't important, imagine Earth without it. Fifty years ago, when I began exploring the ocean, no one realized that we human being could do anything to harm the ocean.
For me, as a woman scientist, it all began in 1953 when I first tried diving. In 1979, by using a submersible, I had a chance to reach the ocean floor which was six miles offshore and 1,250 feet down. Since then, I've used about 30 kinds of submarines. We need new deep-diving submersible. We need to see the undersea mountains and understand life in the deep sea. Exploring and protecting the wild ocean is my big wish.
What's worrying us is that an ice free Arctic Ocean may happen in this century. That's bad news for the polar bears. Additional CO2 is not only driving global warming, but also changing ocean chemistry, making the sea more acidic. That's bad news for coral reefs and oxygen-producing plankton. Actually, nearly half of the coral reefs have disappeared. We're putting hundreds of millions of tons of plastic and other rubbish into the sea. We're blocking the ocean, poisoning the planet's circulatory system. Most of the turtles, sharks, tunas and whales are way down in numbers. All of these are part of our life support system.
Health to the ocean means health for us. I wish we would use all means—films, explorations, the web, new submarines—and campaign to stimulate public support for ocean protected areas. My wish is a big wish, but if we can make it happen, it can truly save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet. For the children of today, for tomorrow's children: as never again, now is the time.
1. Why does the writer say "No blue, no green." in the first paragraph?A.To tell us the colors of the earth. | B.To refer to the ocean and the land |
C.To show the importance of ocean. | D.To encourage us to explore the ocean. |
A.Make joint efforts | B.Save life support system. |
C.Encourage children to take action. | D.Explore the ocean by new technology. |
A.Means. | B.Campaign. | C.Public support. | D.Wish. |
A.Negative. | B.Concerned. | C.Uncertain. | D.Indifferent. |
4 . The national movement to get rid of plastic bags is gaining steam — with more than 240 cities and counties passing laws that ban or tax them since 2007 in the US. But these bans may be hurting the environment more than helping it.
University of Sydney economist Rebecca Taylor and colleagues compared bag use in cities with bans with those without them. For six months, they spent weekends in grocery stores recording the types of bags people carried out.
Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to: People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic garbage per year. But people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog waste, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually grew sharply after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says.
Garbage bags are thick and use more plastic than typical shopping bags. "So about 30 percent of the plastic that was reduced by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags," Taylor says. On top of that, cities that banned plastic bags saw a surge in the use of paper bags, which she estimates(估计)resulted in about 80 million pounds of extra paper garbage per year.
A bunch of studies find that paper bags are actually worse for the environment. They require cutting down and processing trees, which involves lots of water, toxic chemicals and fuel. While paper is biodegradable(可生物降解的) and avoids some of the problems of plastic, Taylor says, the huge increase of paper means banning plastic shopping bags increases greenhouse gas emissions(排放).
The Danish government recently did a study that took into account environmental impacts(影响)beyond simply greenhouse gas emissions, including water use, damage to ecosystems and air pollution. These factors make cloth bags even worse. They estimate you would have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times more than a plastic grocery bag to make using it better for the environment.
1. What is main idea of the passage?A.Banning plastic bags is gaining popularity worldwide. |
B.Banning plastic has great influence on people’s life. |
C.Banning plastic increases the use of pager and cloth bags. |
D.Banning plastic may harm rather than help the environment. |
A.Plastic bags are no longer needed. |
B.People began to reuse their plastic bags. |
C.The amount of garbage is even greater. |
D.Most of the reduced plastic returns in garbage bags. |
A.They are not as biodegradable as plastic bags. |
B.It hurts the environment more to make them. |
C.They can’t be reused as many times as plastic bags. |
D.They are much thicker than plastic bags. |
A.Sharp increase. | B.Fast development. |
C.Tight control. | D.Sharp decrease. |
5 . Before you throw that old cell phone in the trash,or hide it away in a drawer,think again. There are actually many ways to dispose(处理)of a mobile phone that you are no longer using. First,you should be aware that in many places,throwing away cell phones is actually illegal because the batteries—especially in very old phones—can contain poisonous metals.
You certainly don’t need to pay to recycle an old cell phone.
You might also want to hang onto any accessories(配件)that you have.
A.In fact,most companies that recycle them get paid to do so. |
B.There are better places to get rid of them than your trash can. |
C.Many schools and local charities now have recycling programs. |
D.Local charities have contributed a lot in repairing unwanted phones. |
E.Things like chargers or covers can often be used with your new phone. |
F.The saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure certainly applies. |
G.Check first,since so many schools have gotten the jump on recycling them already. |
6 . The state of Texas has not fully recovered from last year’s hurricane, Harvey, as it prepares for a new season of storms. After a teleconference with President Trump and Federal Emergency Officials, Texas governor Greg Abbott said that they were taking steps on a daily basis to make sure they would be able to address any coming challenges.
Hurricane Harvey brought record rainfall to a wide range of Texas and more rain fell over a five day period than at any time, since records have been kept in the United States beginning in the 1850s. Last year’s deadly hurricanes including Harvey, Irma and Maria caused mass destruction in large parts of Texas, Louisiana, the South Atlantic states, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. Trump praised what he called best recovery and response efforts to the disasters. They were gathering every accessible resource to ensure maximum preparation for rapid response. That’s what they had last year. Disaster reaction and recovery is best achieved when it’s nationally supported, state managed and locally performed.
Abbott also mentioned that two new satellites and modern technology will help decide the path and strength of the storms. State and local governments are also planning routes, shelters, communication lines and supply chains to ensure efficient reaction to the storms. Scientists warn that, as the earth warms, storms are taking more moisture and are able to produce more rainfall. This year storms are also expected to be driven by extremely powerful winds.
Emergency Officials say the nation has to be prepared for ever more active storms in the future. They’ve got to keep building the culture of preparedness in this state and in this nation. Meteorologists(气象学家)predict up to 16 storms this summer including 5 to 9 hurricanes, the most active storms will occur in the approaching Mid-August.
1. What does the underlined word “address” in the first paragraph mean?A.Face. | B.Present. | C.Request. | D.Complain. |
A.The new satellites and modem technology. |
B.The joint efforts of the whole nation. |
C.The best recovery and reaction efforts. |
D.The communication lines and supply chains. |
A.Providing shelters. | B.Arranging routes. |
C.Producing more rainfall. | D.Supplying communication lines. |
A.The Culture of Preparedness in the U.S. |
B.The Violence of Hurricane Harvey |
C.The Prediction of the Future Weather |
D.The Recovery after the Disasters |
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(╲)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Nowadays, the destruction of forests is one of most serious environment problems. From that I understand, people are destroying thousands of square kilometers of trees every day. This is killing hundreds of wild animals live in the forests. But something must be done. Unfortunately, we don’t do everything to protect the forests.
People who cut down trees should go to prison. That’s what happens in some country to people who sell plastic bags. That’s what should happened to people who destroy the forests. I can’t help but to think that we must protect wildlife for future generations. Hopeful, our children will be even much responsible that we are today.
8 . If you want to travel from Xi’an to Chengdu by train, it will take about 16 hours. But starting this month, the new Xi’an-Chengdu high-speed railway will shorten this travel time to three hours.
The 643-kilometer line is China’s first high-speed railway to run through the Qinling Mountains, which form a natural boundary (分界线) between China’s north and south. With a speed of 250 km per hour, it’s also the first mountain-heavy train line to provide a 4G network. Along the way, the train passes through two areas for rare (稀有) wild animals — one for pandas and the other for crested ibises (朱鹮).
To reduce the railway’s influence on the animals, workers and experts have designed and built the railway to be environmentally friendly. There were 345 wild pandas living in the Qinling Mountains. China currently has 1,864 wild pandas in total, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
To avoid disturbing the pandas, the railway was designed to run through tunnels (隧道) within the area. Protective shields (防护屏) are placed near the entrance of each tunnel to stop animals from going in.
To protect the thousands of crested ibises that fly near one part of the railway, protective nets have been set up to make sure the birds will not fly into a train.
The nets are about 32 km long and 4 meters high. Experts tested different shapes and materials for building the nets before making their final choice.
1. From this month, it will take ________ to travel from Xi’an to Chengdu by the high speed train.A.16 hours | B.13 hours | C.3 hours | D.1 hour |
A.It is China’s first high-speed railway. |
B.It runs through the Qinling Mountains. |
C.It is the best mountain-heavy train line. |
D.The train passes through many areas for rare wild animals. |
A.To save money and energy. |
B.To avoid damaging the mountains. |
C.To avoid harming wild animals. |
D.To help the train run through tunnels quietly. |
A.Tunnels. | B.Tracks. |
C.Protective shields. | D.Protective nets. |
A.Xi’an Chengdu high-speed railway. |
B.How to protect pandas and crested ibises. |
C.Qinling Mountains. |
D.Protective shields and nets. |
注意:
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Tom,
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sail a boat. Wind is one of our cleanest and richest power sources, as well as one of the oldest. Evidence shows that windmills (风车) began to be used in ancient Iran back in the 7th century BC. They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s, when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power.
For many centuries, people used windmills to grind (磨碎) wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote (偏远的) areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radio. However, by the 1940s when electricity was available (可利用的) to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were seldom used.
During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People also realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.
1. From the text we know that windmills__________.A.were invented by European armies |
B.used to supply power to radio in remote areas |
C.have a history of more than 2,800 years |
D.have rarely been used since electricity was discovered |
A.Producing electricity. | B.Sailing a boat. |
C.Grinding wheat into flour. | D.Pumping water from ground. |
A.the supply of coal and gas failed to meet needs |
B.it is one of the oldest power sources |
C.it was cheaper to create energy from wind |
D.wind power is cleaner |
A.the global pollution from burning coal and gas |
B.the worldwide movement to save energy |
C.the history of using wind power |
D.the advantages of windmills |