Since Japan began releasing nuclear-contaminated (核污染) wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on last Thursday despite little
According to the spokesperson, the actions of the Japanese government are contradictory to international conventions (公约) and experts say that the influence of Japan’s release of wastewater
“The Chinese government will take necessary measures to
2 . For decades, climate scientists have named hurricanes and ranked them according to the damage. “Naming and categorizing (把……归类) heat waves is also a must,” states a newly formed international union, called the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance. “Hurricanes get attention because they cause obvious physical damage,” says Jennifer Marlon, a climate scientist at Yale University. Heat waves, however, have less evident effects, since the primary damage is to human health.
Heat waves kill more people in the United States than any other weather-related disaster. Data from the National Weather Service show that from 1986 to 2019, there were 4,257 deaths as a result of heat. By comparison, there were fewer deaths by floods (2,907), tornadoes (2,203) or hurricanes (1,405) over the same period. What’s more, climate change is increasing the possibility of high temperature events worldwide, getting tens of thousands of people dying each year because of heat.
Some populations are particularly easily harmed by high heat, including people over 65 and those with potential medical conditions. Historical racial discrimination also puts minority communities at higher risk. Due to housing policies, they are more likely to live in urban areas, heat islands which lack green spaces that help cool down neighborhoods.
Part of the naming and ranking process will include defining exactly what a heat wave is. No single definition currently exists. Without a universally accepted definition of a heat wave, “We don’t have a common understanding of the danger we face,” says Aaron Bernstein, an expert of the new group. “Defined categories for heat waves could help local officials better prepare to deal with potential health problems in the face of rising temperatures. And naming and categorizing heat waves could increase public awareness of the health risks caused by these silent killers.”
The union is having conversations with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Meteorological Organization and other institutions to develop a standard naming and ranking practice.
1. What do we know about the heat wave in America?| A．It causes most serious physical damage. |
| B．It has got more attention in recent years. |
| C．It kills more people than other natural disasters. |
| D．It is the biggest killer among weather-related disasters. |
| A．They live in poorly-built houses. | B．They lack good medical resources. |
| C．They have less access to green spaces. | D．They are limited in their movements. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Conservative (保守的). | D．Objective. |
| A．They also kill lives like hurricanes. | B．They should have names like hurricanes. |
| C．Climate change is affecting them greatly. | D．Measures should be taken to prevent them. |
1.询问受灾情况，表示关心；
2.鼓励他振作起来，重建家园。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：山火 mountain fire
Dear Bill,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
4 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to cleanup floating (浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device (设备) to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.
Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device which is called Interceptor. It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $775, 660, but the cost might drop as production increases.
Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again, ”said Slat.
The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The devices ends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.
1. What do we know about Interceptor?| A．It needs solar power to work. | B．It is mainly used in the oceans. |
| C．It is being under test. | D．It can help sort waste. |
| A．The waste. | B．The oceans. |
| C．The machines. | D．The rivers. |
| A．To ensure the device’s safety. | B．To send operators text messages. |
| C．To empty the waste. | D．To serve as containers. |
| A．A novel. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A diary. | D．A guidebook. |
5 . Be a Green Child
What does it mean to be green? “Green” is more than just a color.
Reduce It!
Reuse It!
Sometimes people call ours a “throwaway society”. It means that we’re a little to willing to throw away old stuff (东西) and buy new stuff.
For instance, if your baby brother becomes older and loses interest in his plastic basketball hoop (篮圈), why not give it to another family who has a little kid?
Recycle It!
Recycling has never been easier. Many communities will pick it up right in front of your house and some towns even require it. Recycled goods go to a recycling center, where they can be turned into new cans, bottles, and paper.
Enjoy It!
It’s true that rubbish and pollution are problems, but the Earth remains a huge and beautiful place that’s ready for you to explore.
But before you travel the globe, take a look at your own backyard. Is there a spot where you could plant a tree or put in a little fruit or vegetable garden?
| A．It also means taking special steps to protect the environment. |
| B．Many times, even if you no longer need something, someone else just might. |
| C．You can start locally by visiting the naturally beautiful spots in your city. |
| D．Turn off the water when you’re brushing your teeth. |
| E．Get out there and get your hands dirty. |
| F．You can watch with pride as your tree takes root and your garden plants grow. |
| G．When you use less of something, you do a good thing for the Earth. |
6 . Due to climate changes, Arctic ice is breaking up earlier in the spring, and its area is decreasing. This is creating problems for polar bears that make their homes off northern Alaska and in Hudson Bay.
Polar bears off Alaska normally hunt and raise their young on ice sheets that float on the ocean. But as the ice has melted, the polar bears have been forced to spend more time on land. There, they have begun to frequent beaches, feeding on the remains of whales caught by native hunters. For polar bears, this food is less nutritious than seals that they normally catch on ice sheets. The shrinking (减少) ice has also forced more polar bears into the ocean. In the past, they only had to swim short distances between ice sheets. But as the ice has shrunk, polar bears have been forced to swim longer and longer distances in the open ocean. This poses a severe danger during rough weather, and an increasing number of drowned polar bears have been observed.
In Hudson Bay, the ice breaks up three weeks earlier in the spring now than it did 20 years ago. Polar bears on Hudson Bay fast (绝食) during the summer, waiting for ice to form in the fall to hunt. Every year, the summer gets longer, and the bears get skinnier. Over the past 25 years, the average weight of the female bears has dropped 68 kg. This loss affects their ability to reproduce, and already the number of births has dropped by 15 percent. Unless the bears can learn to survive these climate changes, these giants of the ice may one day disappear.
1. What is Arctic ice doing earlier each year?| A．It's freezing. | B．It's hardening. |
| C．It's melting. | D．It's expanding. |
| A．Their young are dying. | B．Their diet is changing. |
| C．Their health is improving. | D．Their families are growing. |
| A．They are having fewer young now. | B．They suffer from various sicknesses. |
| C．They don't need stronger protection. | D．They can't find enough good males. |
| A．Medical News. | B．Society Today. |
| C．Wildlife Journal | D．Design Magazine. |
7 . "What kind of rubbish are you?" This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it has become a special "greeting" among people over the past week. On July 1st, the city introduced strict trash-sorting regulations （条例〉that are required to follow and expected to be used as a model for our country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and toss （投放）it into specific public dustbins. They must do so at specified times, when monitors are present to ensure correct trash-tossing and to ask the nature of one's rubbish. Individuals who fail to follow the regulations face the possibility of fines and worse. They could be punished with fines of up to 200 yuan （ $ 29）. For those who repeat to go against them, the government can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to get bank loans or even buy train tickets.
Shanghai government is responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9 million tons of garbage a year, more than London's annual output, which is rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sift （筛选）through the waste, picking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up.
Many residents appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are annoyed by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or harmful, the distinctions among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules concerning food waste. They must put it straight in the required public bins, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss it by hand. What they complain most is the short periods for dropping trash, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out； no one wants to look bad.
1. What do we know about the trash-sorting regulations in Shanghai?| A．They are the first of their kind. | B．They are tied to one's bank account. |
| C．They have the highest fines. | D．They're aided by monitors. |
| A．There are fewer and fewer trash pickers. |
| B．It aims to build a new recycling system. |
| C．It faces more and more serious garbage problems. |
| D．People throw the rubbish here and there. |
| A．Limited time for tossing the trash. |
| B．Confusing distinction among the categories of trash. |
| C．Being fined due to improper behavior. |
| D．Being watched by monitors when throwing the garbage. |
| A．A Good Way of Trash-sorting |
| B．A New Era of Garbage Classification |
| C．A Great Time in Dealing with Litter |
| D．An Effective Solution to Rubbish Problem |
