1 . In an effort to fight the “throw-away culture” and promote reuse and repair, the city of Berlin has taken the unique step of opening its own second-hand department store.
This isn’t your grandma’s thrift shop(旧货商店). It resells perfectly good items that would otherwise be thrown away. A pun(双关语) on the German words for “department store” and “conserving house”, B-Wa(h) renhaus sells a wide variety of products. Far from simply selling old items, the electronic goods have been fixed by expert technicians and come with a year’s guarantee. And, to reach more second-hand shoppers, the store was set up right in the middle of the famous Karstadt department store.
With the success of its initial six-month trial run, the city plans to open four more similar operations in other parts of Berlin. By 2030, it hopes to have at least one location in each of Berlin’s 12 districts. Since 2008, city policies and educational campaigns have reduced average annual household waste by about 25 pounds per resident. It also recycles about 49% of its mineral construction waste. Currently, the city estimates that 8% of abandoned electronic goods and 6% of huge items thrown away can actually be reused. The goal is to expand the market for these items beyond the usual bargain hunters and eco-conscious consumers.
“Three years ago, we started collecting all kinds of used goods,” city spokesperson Dorothee Winden said, “There are lots of things that are well-preserved and functioning but aren’t being used anymore. The goal is to give these things a new life with somebody who can use them.” The store also includes an education center to encourage more sustainable lifestyles-and also gave an award to a project that recycles school uniforms, so that parents don’t have to buy new ones every year.
1. The following are reasons for Berlin’s opening its second-hand store, EXCEPT .| A．to fight the “throw-away culture” | B．to make more profits |
| C．to reduce varieties of waste | D．to promote recycling |
| A．The category of the goods. |
| B．The location of the store. |
| C．The quality of the products. |
| D．The way of selling the goods. |
| A．Berlin currently has 4 second-hand stores in construction. |
| B．It is estimated that Berlin will be a zero-waste city by 2030. |
| C．The market will be expanded to meet the needs of the bargain hunters. |
| D．Berlin’s environment has benefited from city policies and educational campaigns. |
| A．a news report | B．a blog entry |
| C．a travel guide | D．a social research paper |
注意：
1. 词数100左右。
Thoughts Upon the International Biodiversity Day
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内容包括：
1. 水的重要性；
2. 节约用水和保护水资源倡议。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Water — the Source of Life
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4 . Two earth scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpu are calling for flood prevention and warning systems in areas around the Himalayan mountains to protect people from floods or to warn them of the potential disasters. In their Perspectives piece published in the journal Science, Tanuj Shukla and Indra Sen point out that rising temperatures due to global warming are leading to an increase in flood danger for people who live in the area.
As Shukla and Sen note, the Himalayas hold the most ice anywhere on the planet outside of the polar regions — snow-covered mountains and glaciers hold on to massive amounts of water. In the past, as snow and ice have melted in the warmer months, mountain lakes have formed with natural dams holding them in place. But previous research has shown that increases in the amount of water buildup in such lakes and melting of the ice in the rocky material that makes up natural dams can lead to massive floods. Just eight years ago, they note, melting ice in northern India led to an avalanche (雪崩) that pushed the natural dams past its breaking point. The water rushing down the mountain, carrying with it large rocks, trees and other debris, wound up killing over 5,000 people. Such events are common enough to have been given a name-glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). They can also be caused by extreme rain events during Monsoon season, which, due to global warming, are happening more often.
Shukla and Sen point out that as the planet grows warmer, more GLOFs are certain to occur. But they also note that the same outcomes are not unavoidable. They suggest that the construction of reservoirs to hold extra rain, structures to change the course of water, detention basins (滞洪区) along with embankments (堤岸) could prevent such flooding. They also suggest improvements in technology could help — upgrading cell service in the region, for example, would allow people upstream to call and warn those living downstream. They also suggest building a satellite network that could be used to monitor troublesome areas. Taken together, such technology could form the basis of an early warning system. Without such action, they warn millions of people could lose their lives in the coming years.
1. What are Shukla and Sen concerned about according to Paragraph 1?| A．The Himalayas holds more and more ice because of flood happened. |
| B．How to establish warning systems around the Himalayan mountains. |
| C．How to prevent flood in areas around the Himalayan mountains. |
| D．More flood caused by global warming may occur around Himalayas. |
| A．The result of an avalanche. |
| B．The meaning of GLOFs. |
| C．The cause of GLOFs. |
| D．The cause of an avalanche. |
| A．GLOFs can be avoided in Shukla and Sen’s opinion. |
| B．GLOFs can be prevented by reducing detention basins. |
| C．Constructing reservoirs is the best way to prevent GLOFs. |
| D．GLOFs are unpredictable in the future due to global warming. |
| A．To improve the embankments. |
| B．To make more satellites. |
| C．To upgrade satellite network. |
| D．To set up warning systems. |
There are thousands of endangered species in the world. If the rate
6 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?| A．They made her decide to leave the country. |
| B．They helped her better understand her father. |
| C．They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
| D．They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Cold weather. | D．Forest damage. |
| A．To create job opportunities for young people. |
| B．To help the children obtain a basic education. |
| C．To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
| D．To promote the protection of their farmland. |
| A．Saving Water in Tunisia | B．Holding back the Sahara |
| C．Planting Trees of Native Species | D．Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
7 . One of the talks from the TED stage in Long Beach, California, came from Richard Ture re, an inventor. He is a Maasai from Kenya. And he is very young.
Lions are the top tourist attraction to Kenya, especially in the Nairobi National Park, which is near where Richard lives. Lions are also considered critically endangered in Kenya. One of the main causes of their demise, “is that people kill them in retaliation (报复) for lions attacking their livestock (牲畜)”, says Paula Kahumbu, executive director of Wildlife Direct, a wildlife conservation organization in Africa. She has been studying the conflict between humans and lions, and her work led her to Richard. In one week, she monitored over 50 cases where lions attacked livestock.
One night Richard was walking around with a flashlight and discovered the lions were scared of a moving light. A light went on inside him and an idea was born. Three weeks later, Richard had invented a system of lights that flash around the cowshed (棚), which seemed like a human walking around with a flashlight. His system is made from broken flashlight parts and an indicator box from a motorcycle. “The only thing I bought was a solar board, which charges a battery that supplies power to the lights at night,” Richard says. He calls the system Lion Lights. “There have been a lot of efforts to try to protect the lions,” Kahumbu says. “It’s a crisis and everyone is looking for a solution. One idea was land leases (租赁), another was lion pro-offences (防护栅栏). And basically no one even knew that Richard had already come up with something that worked.”
His simple solution was so successful. He equipped the lights for his neighbors and for six other homes in his community. From there, the lights spread and are now being used all around Kenya.
To get to the TED stage, Richard traveled on an airplane for the first time in his life. He says he has a lot to tell his friends about when he goes back home, and what impressed him the most on his trip was something he saw at the Aquarium of the Pacific: “It was my first time seeing a shark. I’ve never seen a shark.”
1. Why is Richard able to get to the TED stage?| A．He has saved fifty lions. | B．He is a successful speaker. |
| C．He helped his neighborhood. | D．He invented a light to protect the lions. |
| A．Death. | B．Injury. | C．Discovery. | D．Attraction. |
| A．Richard’s. | B．Wildlife Direct’s. | C．The government’s. | D．The TED’s. |
| A．People in Kenya live in harmony with the lions. |
| B．Richard is a caring, thoughtful and inventive American boy. |
| C．There were three methods to protect the lions before Richard’s solution. |
| D．With kindness and consideration, people can achieve peace with natural world. |
8 . Four Homes Built Using Everyday Objects
Can newspapers and bottles be used as building materials? The answer is yes.
Plastic Bottle Village, Bocas del Toro
One man’s trash (垃圾) is another man’s treasure. Truer words could not describe Robert Bezeau’s project which began in 2012. After collecting tens of thousands of bottles, Bezeau recruited (招收) a team of locals to construct a building using the unwanted materials.
The Bottle Houses, Cape Egmont, Prince Edward Island
The Bottle Houses on Prince Edward Island, Canada, are the creation of Edouard T Arsenault and his daughter Rejeanne. The father and daughter began construction in 1980 and opened the house to the public in 1981.
Earthship Biotecture, Taos, New Mexico
Michael Reynolds built his first Earthship when he was 23 years old. Started out with empty bottles. the Earthship is sustainable and easy to build. Earthship Biotecture offers nightly stays. Self-guided tours are also available (可获得的).
The Paper House, Rockport, Massachusetts
When Elis F. Stenman built his summer home in 1922, he turned to paper for materials. The design has proven to be quite durable (耐用的), as it’s still standing nearly 100 years later. The home has been open to visitors since the 1930s, and only began charging 10 cents per person in 1942 when it became a museum. Today visitors can experience the Paper House for themselves for $2 for adults and $1 for children.
1. When was the Plastic Bottle Village built?| A．In 1981. | B．In 2021. | C．In 2012. | D．In 1922. |
| A．In an Earthship. | B．In the Paper House. |
| C．In the Bottle Houses. | D．In Plastic Bottle Village. |
| A．$11. | B．$10. | C．$12. | D．$20. |
9 . Earth Day falls on April 22 each year to inform people about environmental problems and inspire them to act. It first came into being in 1970, followed in 1972 by World Environment Day. It has been celebrated ever since, slowly but surely picking up steam. Interestingly, it remained a grassroots affair for 20 years before spreading out to 140 countries in 1990. Now, it is celebrated around the world. Humans still face many challenges, such as climate change and plastic pollution. But we can all make a difference.
When Claire was in the seventh grade, she learned about plans to expand and modernize her middle school. As a follower of Earth Day, she wanted to help. Claire asked the school board to add solar panels to the project because, she explained, clean energy would contribute to a truly modern school, and help her school pursue sustainable development.
The board liked the idea but said it could contribute just $25,000, one-fifth of the cost. So Clarie turned to the community, looking for a solution. Her friends and neighbors shared her enthusiasm. Soon Claire organized a group of kids and adults, who set to work raising the rest. They wrote grant (拨款) requests, put on a talent show and asked for donations, even going door-to-door for them at Halloween. And they appealed to charitable foundations too. One donated more than half the cost!
After two years of hard work, the group paid for the solar panels, which now supply one-fourth of the school’s electricity needs, saving the district thousands of dollars. “My favorite part about this project was that one person could start something small and then the project could grow and have a big impact on the community,” Claire said “There are always going to be barriers and hard parts. When there’s a challenge presented to you, use it as a learning moment and an opportunity to overcome it.”
You can be a hero for the environment, so find out what can be recycled where you live.
1. What can we learn about Earth Day from the first paragraph?| A．It was first celebrated on April 22, 1972. | B．It gained instant popularity worldwide. |
| C．It aims to raise environmental awareness. | D．It promotes solutions to human challenges. |
| A．To sell the solar panels. | B．To make her school greener. |
| C．To improve academic grades. | D．To beautify the school campus. |
| A．The vital role of charities. | B．Difficulties in raising money. |
| C．Constant efforts on the project. | D．Financial support from the public. |
| A．Responsible and determined. | B．Generous and creative. |
| C．Energetic and reliable. | D．Curious and adventurous. |
1. 保护野生动物的重要性；2. 保护措施；3. 其他。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear fellow students,
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Thank you for your attention!
