1 . Traditionally, profiting from forests often meant capitalizing on timber (木材)——choosing commercial timber. Yet increasingly, there is an understanding that it’s of greater significance to keep trees standing than cut them down for financial profit. Money is not everything. We have to recognize real and lasting value is from natural resources. But money is a fact of life.
Good news is that we can expect entire natural woodland is left undamaged and still provides a revenue (收益) stream. Leaving woodland complete does not necessarily mean that we do not touch it at all. Conservation work may involve building back biodiversity or the removal of foreign plant species.
A healthy woodland system can provide a range of yields (产物). Besides eatable yields——top fruit, berries, and food crops, it produces substances for chemical use. The non-timber forest products provided by natural ecosystems will vary significantly depending on where they are. But there’re almost always ways to explore to acquire revenue.
A project in the U.K. shows woodland is also a draw for visitors. It engages a community who creates a sustainable area of woodland. The sale of handmade wooden items and non-timber forest products is involved. But the community largely obtains revenue by opening up parts of the natural woodland to the public with an adventure playground and outdoor recreational activities on the site. It also offers courses on nest building, special wildlife events and more. The project is thought to have great uniqueness. In terms of revenue, it centers round the existing natural land; the yields woodland can provide become side products.
Recreational activities, tours, and classes are just the commencement. A rich and biodiverse woodland can be an ecosystem that draws in people looking for a beautiful place to stay. Woodland has great value in ecological and social terms. And when you nurse it, it could also add to the income from your land.
1. What do people increasingly think about forest conservation?| A．It is difficult to carry out. |
| B．It means making full use of timber. |
| C．It outweighs financial development. |
| D．It should centre on building back biodiversity. |
| A．It makes woodland itself the main product. |
| B．It focuses on protecting natural land. |
| C．It aims to promote ecotourism. |
| D．It provides educational experiences. |
| A．Intention. |
| B．Wish. |
| C．Exception. |
| D．Beginning. |
| A．Woodland Brings Profit While Staying Complete |
| B．A Project Creates Sustainable Woodland |
| C．Forest Conservation Has Been a Top Priority |
| D．Non-timber Products Help Gain More Revenue |
2 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
3 . Many animals move from one place to another at certain times of the year. This
Every autumn, millions of these beautiful insects with fine black and orange wings
A team of scientists led by Professor Eli Shlizerman at the University of Washington has now found the answer. They have found out that the monarch is able to
The
The
| A．symbolic | B．former | C．occasional | D．annual |
| A．live long | B．return to the wild | C．protect themselves | D．seek a partner |
| A．positive | B．wonderful | C．professional | D．frightening |
| A．begin | B．break | C．continue | D．end |
| A．heard | B．worried | C．knew | D．ignored |
| A．notice | B．tell | C．guess | D．illustrate |
| A．height | B．driection | C．brightness | D．position |
| A．news | B．advice | C．information | D．evidence |
| A．determine | B．consider | C．acquire | D．approach |
| A．Eventually | B．Currently | C．Obviously | D．Originally |
| A．solution | B．reaction | C．preference | D．response |
| A．increased | B．exploded | C．changed | D．crashed |
| A．history | B．belief | C．activity | D．experience |
| A．improving | B．destroying | C．decorating | D．monitoring |
| A．take away | B．cut down | C．pickup | D．put together |
| A．comment | B．research | C．effect | D．discussion |
| A．creature | B．experiment | C．opinion | D．function |
| A．recognise | B．design | C．record | D．remember |
| A．look at | B．play with | C．feed on | D．focus on |
| A．stay | B．suffer | C．exist | D．survive |
4 . Do you know that forests cover an estimated 38 percent of the total land surface of the European Union (EU)? And that these extensive areas covered with trees and underbrush need to be protected so they can continue to do good for the environment for the next generation? Now the EU has just come up with is ambitious new “Forest Strategy”.
Forests can fight against climate change and prevent biodiversity loss They can reduce the impacts of climate change by cooling down cities, protecting us from heavy flooding, and reducing drought impacts. They are valuable ecosystems that are home to a major part of the world’s plants and animals. But forests also improve our health and well-being through functions like water regulation, erosion (侵蚀) control and air purification. And they serve as ideal settings for “recreation, relaxation and learning, as well as securing livelihoods”.
This new European- wide forest conservation vision takes in an impressive commitment to plant a minimum of three billion additional trees over the next decade. This is an ambitious plan but a long overdue one because forests have been battered by severe weather and human impacts, particularly the demand for wood over the last ten years. As the EU Observer puts it,“extreme weather events and the increasing demand for forest services and products, driven by wood-based bioenergy and international trade, have accelerated tree cover loss in the last decade.”
This EU strategy takes into account the complexity of ; forest sustainability. Observation, knowledge exchange, ongoing monitoring and close cooperation between public and private organizations and individuals are also key elements in this new continent- wide forest protection strategy.
This is a future- focused blueprint, designed to protect these precious green areas, and ensure that the trees and greenery are here to stay!
1. Why are two questions raised in the beginning?| A．To tell us the EU’s forest coverage. |
| B．To call on people to protect forests. |
| C．To explain the reason for the strategy. |
| D．To encourage more forest expansion. |
| A．The urgency of the strategy. |
| B．The importance of forests. |
| C．The background of the strategy. |
| D．The environmental role of forests. |
| A．Preserved. | B．Controlled. | C．Removed. | D．Damaged. |
| A．Planting Trees for the World |
| B．Irreplaceable Benefits of Forests |
| C．EU’s Action to Protect the Earth |
| D．Taking Forests into the Future |
About 385, 000 people from 192 countries take part in the yearly project to count birds. The event
Steve and Janet Kistler from the American state of Kentucky are among those
Becca Rodomsky-Bish,
The worldwide data goes into the eBird database used by scientists for research on different bird
6 . 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. |
7 . How to Reduce Gift Wrap Waste
Wrapping paper may have “paper” in its name, but that doesn’t automatically mean it can be recycled.
Reuse what you have.
Use different materials.
Ask for better paper. Shops store what customers want, and recyclability should be a top priority, so let that be known when you’re out shopping. As explained by Simon Ellin, CEO of the Recycling Association, a trade body that represents about 90 waste management companies and paper merchants in the United Kingdom, “It’s a campaign we’ve been on all year — do you really need to design a non-paper wrapping paper? Make paper with recycling in mind!”
| A．Try zero waste. |
| B．Shop with that in mind, too. |
| C．You don’t have to choose shining paper to decorate a present. |
| D．In fact, many types of wrapping paper cannot due to their materials. |
| E．When wrapping paper is extremely thin, it has few good quality fibers for recycling. |
| F．Wrapping paper can be used many times if care is taken to unwrap it without tearing. |
| G．Having a mix of recyclable and non-recyclable papers is a real problem for companies. |
8 . For many people, it is hard to imagine what it is like to lose their sense of smell. Known as “anosmia”, loss of smell can have a substantial effect on our overall wellbeing and quality of life. But while a sudden respiratory infection (呼吸道感染) might lead to a temporary loss of this important sense, your sense of smell may well have been gradually eroding away for years due to something else- air pollution.
Exposure to PM2. 5 has previously been linked with smell loss, but typically only in occupational or industrial settings. But new research is now starting to reveal the true scale and the potential damage caused by the pollution we breathe in every day. On the underside of our brains lies the olfactory bulb (嗅球). This sensitive bit of tissue is essential for the enormously varied picture of the world we get from our sense of smell. It’s also our first line of defense against viruses and pollutants entering the brain. But, with repeated exposure to PM2. 5, these defenses slowly get worn down.
“Our data show there’s a 1.6 to 1.7-fold increased risk of developing anosmia with sustained particulate pollution (粒状物污染),” says Murugappan Ramanathan, a rhinologist. One Mexican study in 2006, which used strong coffee and orange odors showed that residents of Mexico City which often struggles with air pollution — tended to have a poorer sense of smell on average than people living in rural areas of the country.
So, should we care that air pollution to which we are all exposed -is damaging our sense of smell and causing anosmia? Clearly, the answer is yes. Ramanathan says, “Air quality matters. I think we need tight regulations and control. Many people may not even realize the pollution they are exposed to. But even the everyday, low level air pollution we are exposed to should be taken more seriously.”
1. What do the underlined words “eroding away” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Evolving. | B．Becoming weak. |
| C．Becoming sharp. | D．Appearing. |
| A．Exposure to PM2. 5 has nothing to do with smell loss. |
| B．The pollution we breathe in on a daily basis may cause harm. |
| C．Our nose stops viruses and pollutants from entering the brain. |
| D．Our defenses will disappear quickly with air pollution exposure. |
| A．They have developed anosmia with air pollution. |
| B．Their sense of smell is poorer than rural people’s. |
| C．They often consume strong coffee. |
| D．They tend to have a good sense of smell. |
| A．How we should react to air pollution. |
| B．What we should do to protect the environment. |
| C．What steps we can take to recover from anosmia. |
| D．How we can improve our life quality. |
High on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
10 . After a year of severe drought, California has seen an abundance of rain since late autumn. Abby Wines, a ranger (护林员) at Death Valley National Park in southern California, predicted that the heavy rainfall would bring us the opportunity to witness one of nature’s most spectacular displays of color and life — a superbloom — in 2023.
A superbloom refers to a large amount of wildflower growth that exceeds the average level for a typical spring. It is actually a rare phenomenon that usually takes place in exceptionally wet winters. Seeds that may have slept in desert soil for years finally receive enough water to blossom in more abundant numbers than you would see in a typical year.
The sight of the superbloom is truly breathtaking. Fields of gold, orange, and purple flowers stretch as far as the eye can see, creating a blanket of colors that can be seen from space.
However, climate change makes the phenomenon increasingly rare. In the distant past, these blooms were often excellent and enormous. As development pushes farther out, more landscapes have been changed to agriculture, and as invasive plants outcompetes the native seedlings, many of California’s spring flower fields are disappearing. In addition, thousands of tourists sometimes step on the flowers and soil, which harms the plant’s ability to adapt and thrive.
Naomi Fraga, director of conservation at the California Botanic Garden, points out that in promoting these locations where massive blooms take place, there isn’t a lot of additional information about how these are actually very fragile (脆弱的) ecosystems. Instead of promoting and sharing specific locations, it’s important to educate the public about the fragility of the ecosystems and the importance of staying on trails which people are allowed to enter.
1. What is the key to a superbloom according to Abby Wines?| A．Desert soil. | B．Warm climate. |
| C．Sufficient rainfall. | D．High-quality seeds. |
| A．Equals to. | B．Goes beyond. |
| C．Cuts down. | D．Sets up. |
| A．Reasons for the superbloom being rare. |
| B．Factors in plants’ adapting to the environment. |
| C．The relationship between climate and plants growing. |
| D．The effect of agricultural development on plants flowering. |
| A．Promoting local tourism by advertising superblooms. |
| B．Recommending tourists perfect trails to enjoy a superbloom. |
| C．Strengthening the management of California Botanic Garden. |
| D．Leading the public to focus more on the ecological environment. |
