1. 简述雾霾情况;
2. 倡导绿色生活;
3. 提出具体措施
注意：
1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Green Life, Clearer Air
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2 . The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth major report on the health of the planet on Monday, demonstrating “if Pacific Ocean temperatures continue to rise, bleaching will kill the remaining corals that make up Australia’s Great Barrier Reef ”.
Bleaching is the result of higher-than-normal ocean temperatures. Warmer water causes corals to release the sea-plants that feed them and make them colorful. They turn white and sicken, often dying very quickly.
The Great Barrier Reef, which is over 2,300 kilometers long is the largest living structure on Earth. It is home to thousands of kinds of fish and other animals. Giant clams, whales, dolphins and birds are among the others that depend on the reef to live.
Humanity also profits from the reef. Popular with visitors, who bring a lot of money to the area, the reef was the center of Tony Fontes’ 40 years career. The professional diver taught the sport and led dive rips to the reef. He compared the destruction from a bleaching event to that from a forest fire. “You just realize you’ve just swum across a reef that a couple weeks ago was full of life and vibrant and now a bushfire has gone through it and the coral is dead,” he said, adding, “and the rest of the marine life will just have to move on or die off.”
IPCC panelist Mark Howden, director of the climate school at Australian National University said conditions that scientists predicted for the future “ are appearing pretty much now. ” However, he mentioned the report offered ideas that can reduce pressure on the reef and help Australia reduce its negative impact on the environment. “Australians should be concerned about all the problems discussed in the report,” he said, “but, the IPCC also wrote about solutions to prevent worst-case circumstances in the future.”
1. What makes the Great Barrier Reef suffer from bleaching?| A．Sick reef. | B．Emergence of sea-plants. |
| C．Warmer water. | D．More corals. |
| A．Many ocean creatures rely on the reef to live. |
| B．It is the largest living structure in the universe. |
| C．A forest fire damaged the reef a few weeks ago. |
| D．It’s popular with visitors because it brings them money. |
| A．To show his strong dislike of the bleaching. |
| B．To describe the gradual process of the bleaching. |
| C．To express the destructive effect of the bleaching. |
| D．To voice the similarity between bushfire and bleaching. |
| A．The vital importance of the reef. | B．The ways to solve the problems. |
| C．The problems discussed in the report. | D．The prediction of the future condition. |
3 . Plastics are amazing materials, which are widely used in our daily life. Besides, they’re often cheap to make. About 8. 3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced to date. That’s about 1,400 times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of that plastic is still in use. But about 5. 8 billion metric tons have been thrown away.
All that plastic waste is an environmental scourge (祸根). Only about 9 percent of plastic waste has been recycled. Another 12 percent has been burned. The remaining 79 percent wound up in landfills or in nature. And that plastic, like a single Lego block, takes a long time to decompose (分解).
Plastic litters the world from the highest mountaintop to the deepest seafloor. Many animals mistake this rubbish for food. If they get full, these animals may forget to eat real food and suffer. Plastic rubbish in the oceans also leaves birds, turtles and other wildlife in a jam.
Big pieces of plastic aren’t the only problem. Abandoned plastic can break into tiny bits called microplastics. Winds blow these bits far and wide. Ocean currents can spread them throughout the sea. These pollutants build up inside animals. They also get into our food and drinking water. Each American is likely to consume more than 70, 000 microplastic pieces per year. Right now, no one knows what risk that might bring.
Scientists have some ideas about how to clean up this mess. The Ocean Cleanup is developing cleanup systems to fish out plastic pieces from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Microbes or mealworms with an appetite for plastic might someday eat the garbage. And new nanotechnology (纳米技术) could help microplastics decompose in the environment. But many of these plans are still far from effective so far. The best way to help Earth right now is to stop buying so much plastic — and then throwing it out — in the first place.
1. What does the Lego block show about plastic waste?| A．It is hard to break down. | B．Little of it has been burned. |
| C．It is easy to pile up. | D．Most of it ends up in landfills. |
| A．By starving them. | B．By reducing their food. |
| C．By piling up in their homes. | D．By changing the environment. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Supportive. | C．Indifferent. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．To criticize plastic production. | B．To suggest ways to handle plastic. |
| C．To advocate environmental protection. | D．To introduce the state of plastic pollution. |
4 . The number of weather-related disasters has increased by five times over the past 50 years, the latest report by the World Meteorological (气象) Organization (WMO) said on September. However, thanks to improved early warning systems and disaster management, the number of death from these hazards (危险) has been almost three times less.
According to the WMO, from 1970 to 2019, weather, climate and water hazards accounted for 50 percent of all disasters. Among the top 10 hazards that led to the largest loss of human life during this period were droughts, storms, floods and extreme temperatures. However, deaths fell from over 50, 000 in the 1970s to less than 20, 000 in the 2010s.
“Weather, climate and water extremes are increasing and will become more frequent and severe in many parts of the world as a result of climate change,” says WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“That means more heat waves, drought and forest fires such as those we have observed recently in Europe and North America. We have more water vapor in the atmosphere, which is worsening extreme rainfall and deadly flooding. The warming of the oceans has affected the frequency and area of existence of the most intense tropical storms.”
“Economic losses are increasing as exposure increases. But behind the statistics lies a message of hope. Improved multi-hazard early warning systems have led to a significant reduction in deaths. Quite simply, we are better than ever before at saving lives,” Taalas said.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Disasters connected with weather have gone up. |
| B．The number of weather-related disasters has decreased. |
| C．The number of deaths from hazards has been increasing. |
| D．Early warning systems have made disasters decline much. |
| A．There will be more extreme weather. |
| B．Extreme rainfall will no longer exist. |
| C．Water vapor in the atmosphere will go down. |
| D．Humans will defeat extreme weather in the end. |
| A．Improved warning systems will save economic losses. |
| B．Economic losses are going down as exposure increases. |
| C．More lives will be saved thanks to early warning systems. |
| D．Improved early warning systems will control extreme weather |
| A．A novel. | B．A brochure. | C．A magazine. | D．A guideline. |
5 . The newly-elected president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says that his country should withdraw (退出) from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing in the way of economic success. During the election campaign, he promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native people and wildlife. Are Brazil’s rainforests in danger?
The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is called “the lungs of the planet.” Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots and release water vapor into the air, forming tiny drops of water. The Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist, says that it is almost impossible to say Just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.
Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups. One supporter, Luiz Carlos, noted that farmers “are not invaders, they are producers.” He blamed the past government for supporting rainforest protections at the cost of farmers. “Brazil,” he said, “will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years.”
Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo, says that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”
Other scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland.
1. The first paragraph is intended to ________.| A．draw people’s attention to the disappearing rainforests |
| B．ask people to ease the protection of rainforests |
| C．attract the public to the newly-elected president |
| D．to complain about the new government's withdrawing |
| A．produce much farmland |
| B．examine people’s lungs |
| C．change the earth’s living system |
| D．destroy farmers’ crops |
| A．The new president’s supporters care less about farmers. |
| B．Scientists are concerned about the protection of rainforests. |
| C．The rainforests will stop the economic development in Brazil. |
| D．The past government is to blame for the destruction of rainforests |
| A．a newspaper |
| B．a magazine |
| C．a guidebook |
| D．a textbook |
6 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.
Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sight on our “consumer culture”, with Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.
We clearly have a growing resource problem. The products we make, buy and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live, but to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.
While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. In fact, for most, rather than an add-on to an already heavy shopping year, Christmas is likely the only time of year they have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.
This is particularly true for Boxing Day, often laughed at by anti-consumerists the most. While we may look down on the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the chance to buy things they've needed all year. As journalist Leigh Phillips argues, “This is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”
Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring people like Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own £ 1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?
Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choice, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problem. It is no wonder no one is changing their behaviour—or that environmental destruction continues without becoming any less severe.
1. What can be inferred about the environmentalist movement from Paragraphs 2 and 3?| A．It has targeted the wrong persons. | B．It has achieved its intended purposes. |
| C．It has solved the environmental problems. | D．It has persuaded consumers not to shop any more. |
| A．A trap for consumers. | B．A tough problem to deal with. |
| C．A precious shopping opportunity. | D．A positive contribution to the economy. |
| A．To show how rich he is. |
| B．To announce he is a Russian. |
| C．To present his contributions to the environment. |
| D．To suggest the real cause of environmental problems hasn't been found. |
| A．The environmental problems are very serious. |
| B．Less shopping can't solve the environmental problems. |
| C．Resources are becoming fewer and fewer on the earth. |
| D．Measures should be taken to protect the environment. |
7 . Nashville-based helicopter pilot Joel Boyers had just finished his job on Saturday morning and was heading home when he received a call for help from a woman in Pennsylvania. Her brother Johnson’s home in Waverly, Tennessee, was underwater and he was trapped on a roof with his daughters. Could Boyers help?“I thought how I would feel if I told her I was not even going to try?” he said in a Thursday interview. “She just so happened to call the right person, because I’m the only person crazy enough to even try to do that.”
The weather was terrible and Boyers had to deal with hills and power lines on the way to Waverly, a small city about 60 miles west of Nashville. Just before reaching the town, he found the Internet was down, making it impossible to locate the house he was looking for. He flew on anyway.
“When I arrived, it was nothing but raging water below me,” he said. A few people were out in boats, rescuing the trapped. Boyers was alone in the sky. He started flying up and down the flooded area, grabbing anyone he could.
Boyers said he ended up rescuing 17 people that day. He was proud of that, but said he was the one who should be thanking them. “I literally prayed just days before this that I would be given some meaning in my life, and then I end up getting this call,” he said. He had flown over disasters before including floods, but “The police are usually there, and my hands are tied. This time there isn’t any,” he said.
To perform the rescues, Boyers had to carefully avoid power lines, balance his skids (打滑) on sloped rooftops, and fly over flood waters. It took all the skills learned over 16 years of flying, including for a television news station, for documentaries and for country music stars. “I don’t want to lie,” he said. “It was almost a little fun for me.”
1. Why did Boyers fly to Waverly？| A．Because he had to do his routine tasks. |
| B．Because his brother was caught in the flood. |
| C．Because he was going to have an interview. |
| D．Because he received an emergency call. |
| A．A long distance. | B．The Internet failure. |
| C．High mountains. | D．Fallen power lines. |
| A．Caring and courageous. | B．Ambitious and demanding. |
| C．Modest and creative. | D．Humorous and cooperative. |
| A．Surviving a Crisis | B．Performing a Task |
| C．Braving a Flood | D．Testing Flight Skills |
1. What’s getting less and less these days according to the talk?
| A．Empty land. | B．Garbage. | C．Water. |
| A．Burying it. |
| B．Sending it out of our planet. |
| C．Using it as an energy source. |
| A．It is hardly ever done. |
| B．It causes air pollution. |
| C．It is useless for hard materials. |
9 . In the deepest dive in a manned submersible(潜水器), US explorer Victor Vescovo spotted and video-recorded a plastic bag and a pile of candy wrappers on the seabed.
His
Since the patent(专利) for plastics was
Most of the discarded(丢弃) plastic products
Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean. It is
This plastic waste
We must do something to
But that’s so much
| A．report | B．discovery | C．record | D．accumulation |
| A．everywhere | B．anywhere | C．somewhere | D．nowhere |
| A．as | B．although | C．but | D．so |
| A．abolished | B．acquired | C．registered | D．advertised |
| A．with | B．without | C．off | D．above |
| A．end up | B．wake up | C．grow up | D．walk up |
| A．continent | B．park | C．island | D．garden |
| A．suggested | B．estimated | C．weighed | D．congratulated |
| A．thousand | B．hundred | C．million | D．billion |
| A．feeds | B．saves | C．cares | D．kills |
| A．looking | B．winding | C．floating | D．jumping |
| A．earth | B．air | C．water | D．environment |
| A．pollution | B．existence | C．temperature | D．cycle |
| A．production | B．supply | C．pyramid | D．trade |
| A．change | B．clean | C．satisfy | D．realize |
| A．otherwise | B．instead | C．therefore | D．meanwhile |
| A．exercise | B．activity | C．fact | D．habit |
| A．harder | B．more effective | C．more courageous | D．easier |
| A．calling for | B．looking for | C．sending for | D．waiting for |
| A．start | B．refuse | C．continue | D．hope |
As Shanxi Province suffered from
According to Shanxi Evening News, at least 16 ancient buildings registered partial collapses, cracks or serious leaking during the rare continuous rainfall,
