1 . Artificial intelligence (AI) is showing promise in earthquake prediction, challenging the long-held belief that it is impossible. Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, have developed an AI algorithm(算法) that correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week in advance during a trial in China and provided accurate strength calculations for the predicted earthquakes.

The research team believes their method succeeded because they stuck with a relatively simple machine learning approach. The AI was provided with a set of statistical features based on the team’s knowledge of earthquake physics, and then instructed to train itself using a five-year database of earthquake recordings. Once trained, the AI provided its prediction by listening for signs of incoming earthquakes within the background rumblings(隆隆声) in the Earth.

This work is clearly a milestone in research for AI-driven earthquake prediction. “You don’t see earthquakes coming,” explains Alexandros Savvaidis, a senior research scientist who leads the Texas Seismological Network Program (TexNet). “It’s a matter of milliseconds, and the only thing you can control is how prepared you are. Even with the 70% accuracy, that’s a huge result and could help minimize economic and human losses and has the potential to remarkably improve earthquake preparation worldwide.”

While it is unknown whether the same approach will work at other locations, the researchers are confident that their AI algorithm could produce more accurate predictions if used in areas with reliable earthquake tracking networks. The next step is to test artificial intelligence in Texas, since UT’s Bureau TexNet hastions and over six years worth of continuous records, making it an ideal location 300 earthquake sta for these purposes.

Eventually, the authors hope to combine the system with physics-based models. This strategy could prove especially important where data is poor or lacking. “That may be a long way off, but many advances such as this one, taken together, are what moves science forward,” concludes Scott Tinker, the bureau’s director.

1. How does the AI forecast earthquakes?

A．By identifying data from the satellites.

B．By analyzing background sounds in the Earth.

C．By modeling data based on earthquake recordings.

D．By monitoring changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.

2. What does Alexandros Savvaidis intend to show in paragraph 3?

A．The ways to reduce losses in earthquakes.

B．The importance of preparing for earthquakes.

C．The significance of developing the AI prediction.

D．The limitation of AI algorithms in earthquake prediction.

3. What does the follow-up research focus on?

A．Conducting tests in different locations.

B．Applying the AI approach to other fields.

C．Building more earthquake stations in Texas.

D．Enlarging the database to train the calculation accuracy.

4. Which words can best describe the earthquake-predicting technology?

A．Stable but outdated.

B．Effective but costly.

C．Potential and economical.

D．Pioneering and promising.

2 . 假定你是李华，你校英文报正在开展以“Green Travel”为题的讨论。请使用图表中的调查结果写一篇短文投稿，内容包括：

1. 出行交通工具的现状描述；
2. 简单评论；
3. 你的建议。
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。

Green Travel

There are many ways we can choose from to travel to and from school.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . The good news is that more people bought electric vehicles (EVs) in 2020. The bad news is that sport utility (多用途的) vehicles (SUVs) continued to grow in popularity, too. “The fall in oil consumption due to the first trend was completely canceled out by the second,” said Laura Cozzi, an officer at the International Energy Agency (JEA).

Between 2010 and 2020, global carbon dioxide emissions (排放) from conventional cars fell by nearly 35 billion tons, due to reasons such as fuel efficiency improvements as well as the   switch to electric cars. Emissions from SUVs rose by more than 50 billion tons. “While the growth in EVs is encouraging, the boom in SUVs is heart-breaking,” says Peters at the Cicero Climate Research Centre in Norway.

There are many reasons for the growing popularity of SUVs. For example, rising economic boom in many countries means more people are able to afford them. Some people see them as status symbols. Also, SUVs are heavily advertised by car-makers, whose profit is higher on these vehicles. Some countries, including France, have introduced plans under which more taxes are paid on heavier cars. But Peters thinks that people who are rich enough to afford SUVs won’t be deterred by slightly higher taxes. “There are now some electric SUVs available, but I hope one day you will see more electric vehicles brought to the SUV market,” says Peters.

Even if it happens, switching to electric SUVs isn’t a good solution. Due to their size and bigger batteries, it takes more resources to build electric SUVs, and they consume around 15 percent more electricity. That means higher emissions unless the electricity comes entirely from renewable sources, and higher electricity demand makes it harder to green the electricity supply.

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．Scientists should devote themselves to improving fuel efficiency.

B．The popularity of SUVs destroys some efforts to protect the environment.

C．Electric vehicles will certainly take the place of sport utility vehicles.

D．The emission of carbon dioxide of motor vehicles has hit a new low.

2. What does the underlined word “deterred” probably mean?

A．Encouraged.	B．Removed.
C．Discouraged	D．Connected.

3. What is one of the reasons that SUVs are popular with consumers?

A．SUVs are discounted heavily.

B．SUVs consume fewer resources than other vehicles.

C．SUVs are often advertised by car producers.

D．SUVs are taxed at a lower rate in some countries.

4. What point does the author try to make in the last paragraph?

A．More electric SUVs don’t necessarily mean “environment-friendly” .

B．The electric SUVs are a good guarantee for less pollution.

C．The electric SUVs should be made smaller and lighter.

D．Future electric SUVs will be powered with completely green energy.

8 . Topher White spends so much time walking in the forest and thinking about how quickly we’re losing it. The engineer is determined to stop global deforestation. Founder of the San Francisco-based non-profit Rainforest Connection, White has developed a small but clever strategy: using old cell phones to listen for the sound of destruction.

Forests are disappearing worldwide, and fast：an area about half the size of England is lost each year. The Amazon has lost close to one-fifth of its rainforest cover in the last four decades. Forest loss not only harms wildlife, including many species that live nowhere else, but it’s also a big contributor to the greenhouse gas emission(排放)that cause climate change.

”I didn’t know any of this when I started,“ says White, who began his journey in 2011, when he traveled to Indonesian Borneo to help decreasing gibbons(长臂猿).

Between 50 and 90 percent of the logging that happens in the world’s rainforests is illegal, according to White, yet detecting chainsaws(电锯)and other sounds related to that activity can be tough, because the air is already filled with the loud unpleasant mixture of sounds from nature. So he has developed a system in which he installs a cell phone that stays charged by solar cells, attaches an extra microphone, and listens. From there, the device can detect the sounds of chainsaws nearly a mile away.

Because it’s unfeasible to have people listening to the devices all the time, he added some “old-school data analysis”, so that the cell phone’s computers can distinguish a chainsaw’s sound from others in the forest. This way, his device can automatically detect logging activity and send a text alert to authorities who can determine if it’s illegal and then stop it.

White notes that he’s not alone in the fight: Many people and organizations are working tirelessly to stop forests from disappearing. For instance, local groups are particularly active in forest conservation efforts, White says.

So far, his monitoring devices have been used in Cameroon, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil and will soon be used in Bolivia. It’s not just about listening for logging. The same technology that can pick out the buzz of a chainsaw can pick out the sounds of specific birds, which is why Whtie sees the forest recordings as a potential science tool. He’s urging biologists and ecologists to use his monitoring system anywhere, whether it’s a remote forest or a park in London. “The more we learn about these places,” he says, “the easier it’ll be to protect them.”

1. The second paragraph is mainly about         .

A．the measures to prevent forest loss

B．the causes and effects of forest loss

C．the areas that suffer great forest loss

D．the urgency about reducing forest loss

2. What does the underlined word “unfeasible” in Paragraph 5 most probably mean?

A．Impractical.

B．Unnecessary.

C．Possible.

D．Significant.

3. In Topher White’s opinion, we should protect nature based on         .

A．our advanced technology	B．our strong teamwork spirit
C．our good understanding of it	D．our environmental awareness

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Efforts should be taken to preserve nature

B．Your old cell phone can help save the rainforest

C．Old cell phones can be used for helping gibbons

D．A creative way is being used to protect specific birds

9 . Since the 1950s, some 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only about 10% has ever been recycled. Yet environmentally conscious companies and consumers continue to look to recycling as a way to ease the plastic problem. Manufacturing giants claim to be committed to making more of their products and packaging from recycled materials. However, this confidence masks (掩饰) a complex web of issues around plastic recycling. Recycling rates remain extremely low and critics argue that we should look at alternative ways to tackle plastic pollution.

While many plastics have the potential to be recycled, most are not because the process is costly, complicated and the resulting product of a lower quality than the original. Despite rising demand for recycled plastic, few waste companies turn a profit. Part of this is because virgin plastic—linked to oil prices—is often cheaper than recycled plastic, meaning there is little economic motive to use it. Worse yet, much of our plastic waste is difficult to recycle. Lightweight food packaging, like a mozzarella packet, contains different plastics, dyes and toxic additives (添加剂). This dirty mix means plastic recycled through mechanical methods—the most common form—can only be melted down and moulded again a couple of times before it becomes too fragile to be reused. And the nature of the process means plastic recycling has a carbon footprint of its own.

Given all of these difficulties, environmental critics say recycling is not the solution and argue that creating more products from recycled material to attract environmental consciousness merely worsens the problem. “The solution is to use less plastic and to stop misleading the public about the recyclability,” says Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a US campaign group with a mission to end single-use plastic. “They should stop making false claims about the recyclability of plastics since they know most will either be littered or burned or landfilled (填埋). Using less plastics means shifting to reusable products and relying more on paper, cardboard, glass and metal—all of which should be made from recycled content.”

1. Which of the following statements would environmentally conscious companies support?

A．Recycling can’t solve the plastic problem.

B．Creating more products from recycled material can help ease plastic pollution.

C．The solution to plastic pollution is to use less plastic.

D．People should give up recycling because the recycling rates remain extremely low.

2. Which of the following is not the cause of the low recycling rate according to Paragraph 2?

A．The process is costly and complex.

B．Waste companies can’t make a profit.

C．The process of recycling has a carbon footprint.

D．Policy support is insufficient and people’s awareness of plastic recycling is insufficient.

3. What is Enck’s attitude towards recycling plastics?

A．Disapproving

B．Unclear

C．Neutral

D．Indifferent

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．An environmentally conscious customer’s attitude towards recycling plastics is not favorable.

B．Contributing factors to low plastic recycling rates.

C．Most plastics have the potential to be recycled.

D．Few waste companies turn a profit because the demand for recycled plastics is low.