1 . Carson calls himself, a matchmaker of the never-ending waste of American society, trying not to pair people with people, but things with people.
For nearly ten years, his company, Repurposed Materials, has not been looking to recycle the waste he gets —breaking it down to make something new—but rather finding new homes for thrown-away goods in their original (原来的) forms.
In the late 1990s, Carson was on break from business school in Vail, Colorado, when he discovered the vast world of waste. He began thinking about creating a secondhand store that would sell old materials and keep them out of being wasted. Then, in 2010, his company, Repurposed Materials appeared.
Carson, a husband and father of three adult children, is far from wasteful. Frugal is how he describes himself. The clothes he’s wearing all came from a charity shop; the truck he drove was a secondhand one.
“Why break something down, why melt something down, if it still has value?” he asks. An old oil-field pipe might be melted down and turned into a car bumper, but it still takes an amount of power to finish the complete change. Why not leave it as a steel pipe? Why not turn it into a fence post on a farm? That way, the only cost is transport.
American industrial facilities create and throw about 7. 6 billion tons of unwanted industrial materials every year. For the moment, Carson’s unique business finds new lives for millions of kilograms of waste every year.
1. What does Repurposed Materials try to do?A.To collect the secondhand hardware. | B.To find new homes for wasted goods. |
C.To make something new with waste. | D.To change the waste’s original forms. |
A.Carson’s lessons at the business school. | B.Carson’s dream to change the waste world. |
C.What led to Carson’s Repurposed Materials. | D.Why Carson was interested in secondhand stuff. |
A.Colorful. | B.Rich. | C.Fantastic. | D.Simple. |
A.No pains, no gains. | B.Think outside the box. |
C.Well begun, half done. | D.Look before you leap. |
If you spend some time wandering through the Prairie wilderness, chances are that you’ll hear the snort of wild pigs, one of Canada’s most invasive species,
To make matters
Environmentally, the rapid spread of the wild pigs pose numerous problems such as diversity
Hunting may seem like a quick solution, but
3 . Johannes Fritz, an Austrian biologist, needed to come up with a plan again if he was going to prevent his rare and beloved birds from going extinct.
To survive the European winter, the northern bald ibis needs to migrate south for the winter over the Alps. But shifting climate patterns have delayed when the birds begin to migrate and they are now reaching the mountains too late to make it over the peaks, locking them in an icy death trap. Determined to save them, he decided to teach the birds a new, safer migration route by guiding them himself in a tiny aircraft. He was confident that he could succeed in this daring, unconventional plan.
Some 400 years ago, the Europeans hunted these birds without stopping and devoured the last in the wild, causing the birds to disappear entirely from the wild. When Mr. Fritz was born 56 years ago, the northern bald ibis could be found in Europe only in captivity (圈养).
Mr.Fritz has spent his career reintroducing the birds into the wild. Through years of trial and error, he learned to fly like a bird. He modified (改装) a lightweight aircraft so it would fly at speeds slow enough for the birds to keep up. In 2004, he led the first flock from Austria to Italy, and has since led more migrations. But the route he originally taught the ibises does not work successfully. With climate change warming the area where the birds summer, they now start their migration at the end of October instead of the end of September. The trip is expected to take about six weeks, “Still, we’re optimistic that it’ll work,” said Mr. Fritz.
His family and colleagues witnessed the risks he was taking. “But the unavoidable risks are necessary,” Mr. Fritz said. “It’s not so much a job, but my life’s purpose.”
1. What was Johannes Fritz’s plan?A.To shorten bald ibises’ migration route. |
B.To lead bald ibises to migrate on a new route. |
C.To better the climate patterns for bald ibises. |
D.To find out a safer destination for bald ibises. |
A.Destroyed. | B.Abused. | C.Released. | D.Raised. |
A.Owing to the long time it consumes. |
B.For the slow speed of his modified aircraft. |
C.Because of the toughness along the first route. |
D.Due to higher temperatures in the summer habitat. |
A.Honest. | B.Innovative. | C.Straightforward. | D.Demanding. |
1.活动目的;
2.活动过程(设计海报、听报告等);
3.活动意义。
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。
World Oceans Day
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5 . An Indonesian librarian is lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect in a novel way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.
Each weekday Raden rides her three-wheeler with books piled up at the back for children in Muntang village to exchange for plastic cups, bags and other waste that she carries back. She told Reuters she targets to promote reading in the kids as well as make them aware of the environment. As soon as she shows up. little children, many accompanied by their mothers, surround her "Trash Library" and clamour for the books.
They are all carrying trash bags and Raden's three-wheeler quickly fills up with them as the books fly out. She's happy the kids are going to spend less time on online games as a result.
Kevin, a keen 11-vearold reader, searched for waste lying in the village. "When there is too much trash, our environment will become dirty and it's not healthy. That's why I look for trash to borrow a book," he said.
"Let us build a culture of literacy(识字)from young age to reduce the harm of the online world." Raden said, "We should also take care of our waste in order to fight climate change and to save the earth from trash "
She collects about 100 kg of waste each week, which is then sorted out by her colleagues and sent for recycling or sold. She has a stock of 6,000 books to lend and wants to take the mobile service to neighbouring areas as well.
Raden said: "The literacy rate for above-15-year-olds in Indonesia is around 96 percent, but a September report by the World Bank warned that the pandemic will leave more than 80% of 15-year-olds below the minimum reading proficiency level." And she wanted to do her part to make things better.
1. What is Raden's purpose of establishing Trash Library?A.To earn money for Trash Library by selling trash. |
B.To develop the children's creativity from young age. |
C.To raise the kids' awareness of environment while reading. |
D.To promote the relationship between children and mothers. |
A.Passion for reading. | B.Concerns about pollution. |
C.Addiction to the Internet. | D.Determination to volunteer. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Worried. | C.Appreciative. | D.Tolerant |
A.A Novel Way to Improve Library | B.The Indonesian System for Reading |
C.Your Trash Benefiting the Environment | D.Your Collected Trash for Our Books |
1. How many floors does the stadium have in total?
A.2. | B.5. | C.7. |
A.It has been painted green. |
B.It has been made out of wood. |
C.It has been built to look like trees. |
A.By electricity. | B.By wind power. | C.By solar power. |
7 . How can having a childlike view of the world help the environment? Danish eco-artist Thomas Dambo combines a talent for recycling with a fairy-tale imagination to bring people worldwide closer to nature.
For the “Guardians of the Seeds” exhibition, Danish eco-artist Thomas Dambo built five trolls from discarded wood materials, which were appointed by Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG) for its splendid riverside woodland.
The exhibition composed of the five trolls aims to give visitors an emotional connection with nature that will encourage them to become keepers of it. For the exhibition, Thomas came up with a story that a family of trolls hid 10 golden seeds to protect the old forest. Using a map that's provided, visitors follow clues to find where the seeds are hidden.
Besides using carefully selected recycling materials to produce his works, to challenge himself creatively, the artist allowed for a degree of production on-site. He gave a skinny troll named Birk a beard made from the roots of fallen trees. The fur of another troll Roskva is made from bark. Also, Gro, sitting with her eyes closed in a yoga pose, has a tongue made out of a nearby deserted planter.
“Thomas wants people to interact with them,” says Gretchen, president of CMBG. “He wants it to be a journey of discovery where you're walking along and all of a sudden this big magical being appears in front of you. These are friendly, happy trolls. They're not scary, mean trolls.”
Thomas hopes that “Guardians of the Seeds” gives viewers the same joy he gets from an occupation that he compares to a hobby. He says too many people lose their playfulness in their adult life. The key quality of his work is just its playfulness. One of his trolls sits on a real car on a hillside, appearing to cheerfully ride it. He wants to reactivate a childlike imagination in adults so they begin to see trash as objects that can be repurposed in practical and even picturesque ways. And he loves to entertain kids, too.
Nowadays, Mr. Dambo gets a kick out of seeking waste everywhere, hoping to find more stuff he could refashion into something amazing.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” mean in paragraph 2?A.Given-out. | B.Thrown-away. | C.High-priced. | D.Randomly-chosen. |
A.To set off visitors' curiosity. | B.To get back the 10 golden seeds. |
C.To promote the popularity of CMBG. | D.To boost the bond between visitors and nature. |
A.His environmental awareness. | B.His creativity and artistic gift. |
C.His working efficiency and skill. | D.His sense of social responsibility. |
A.Thomas' Massive Troll Sculptures |
B.Let Us Turn Trashed Wood into Elegant Art |
C.Artist Preserves Imagination and Nature with Huge Trolls |
D.Welcome to the Magic “Guardians of the Seeds” Exhibition |
8 . Nowadays people tend to digitalise everything from watches to fridges. It seems you can choose any item labeled as “smart”.
If you’re a part of the digitalisation movement,you might be interested in the concept of smart homes. It means that every element of your house can be controlled from a panel on the wall or your phone.
Electricity generation today represents 31% of total global fossil fuel use and around 40% of all energy-related CO2 emissions.
In a 150,000m2 office complex near Munich, called Campeon, energy costs of up to 117,067 Euro were saved after the use of environmental control devices this year. In this way, they are contributing to a large decrease in CO2 emissions. Clearly, smart homes are about much more than just living a comfortable life.
A.It is actually about living a green life |
B.Smart devices have been installed worldwide nowadays |
C.It starts working only when CO2 concentrations reach a certain limit |
D.There seem to be an ocean of such so-called “smart” inventions |
E.Bearing this in mind, measures should be taken to make buildings more energy-efficient |
F.Alternative energy must be discovered before the fossil fuel runs out in the future |
G.This includes basics such as heating and lighting and many other appliances |
9 . A big city might not seem like the best place to learn about nature and the environment. But one group in Washington, D. C. is trying to change that. City Blossoms is a non-profit organization, with the aim to bring nature to children who might not otherwise have green spaces. The organization has assisted in creating green spaces at seven elementary schools.
City Blossoms assists schools in creating and caring for the garden. But the gardens are mainly operated by the schools. McNerney partners with schools that already understand the importance of an outdoor education. “It’s a school-run program that City Blossoms is supporting,” McNerney said. “We don’t want it to be a ‘plop and drop’ where it’s seen as a City Blossoms garden and it’s not fully embraced by the community, because that won’t really lead to a sustainable garden program.”
“At the end of the day, we’re not designing these sites,” said Isa Zambrano, who oversees the community gardens for City Blossoms. She helps maintain the community spaces for City Blossoms. “The community designs it. Every garden takes the shape of the community and the culture that exists there. Young children and older adults have gotten involved with the community green spaces,” said Isa. During cooking lessons, for example, people will talk about meals that are special to their culture.
While City Blossoms’ main goal is to teach children, many older families and adults have also gotten involved. The organization holds gardening lessons for all ages. Isa said the pandemic had made people want to spend more time outside experiencing nature. “People have really woken up to the fact that green spaces are really important in our communities,” she added. “They have realized the good that comes from being outdoors and being disconnected from technology,” she explained.
1. What is the original goal of City Blossoms?A.To develop students’ planting skills. | B.To call for protecting the environment. |
C.To allow students to experience nature. | D.To change teenagers’ academic performance. |
A.An improper course. | B.A school-run garden. |
C.An unsustainable garden. | D.A community program. |
A.It helps students only. | B.It is run with joint efforts. |
C.It is designed by City Blossoms. | D.It creates a new culture. |
A.Exploring City Gardens | B.Establishing City Blossoms |
C.Developing Gardening Lessons | D.Bettering Communities via City Gardens |
10 . The drop in garment prices over the last 20 years has allowed us to buy more and more clothes. We now have 5 times more clothes than our grandparents had.
It has become a challenge to wear a garment more than five times. Garment quality is declining every year. As a result, our clothes immediately look faded or shapeless not long before purchasing them.
What's more, chemicals used in every part of the textile production are greatly harmful. Even clothes made of 100% natural fiber still contain a lot of chemicals.
Clothing has clearly become disposable.
How can we avoid the environmental impact from the fashion industry?
A.We don't have many greener options in the fashion industry. |
B.As a result, we generate more and more textile waste. |
C.They can present a real danger to our health. |
D.Trends are changing so quickly that we cannot keep up. |
E.Think twice before throwing away your second-hand garments. |
F.To achieve the goal we should first reflect on our lifestyle and buy less. |
G.This, in turn, has serious consequences on our consuming habits, our health and our planet. |