1 . With needle-like teeth and a sharp-pointed nose, a gray nurse shark isn’t a creature that most people would want to meet. But Shalise Leesfield isn’t one of them.
The Australian teenager couldn’t think of a better creature to meet when scuba diving off the coast of South West Rocks, near her home in Port Macquarie, a coastal town north of Sydney.
“Many people say gray nurse sharks look frightening, but I think they are the sweetest animals ever,” she says.
The slow-moving sharks, which like to stay near the sea floor in warm, shallow waters, are — for the most part — harmless to humans. But the gray nurse shark is on the brink of extinction. Populations have dwindled and habitats have been lost due to ocean warming and human development, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which lists the species as seriously endangered.
One area where they can still be seen is Fish Rock, an underwater cavern with a unique ecosystem, 40 miles up the coast from Leesfield’s home. But fishers are allowed to access within 200 meters of Fish Rock. This is leading to a drop in the number of gray nurse sharks and increased pollution, says Leesfield. She wants to enlarge the no-fishing area, establishing a protected zone.
With Leesfield’s efforts, the area has been nominated (提名) as a Hope Spot, which is part of the Mission Blue program launched by famous oceanographer Sylvia Earle that identifies places as critically important to the ocean’s health and supports protection.
“When people think about Hope Spots, they think about Sydney Harbour or the Great Barrier Reef. So to get Fish Rock up on that list is just such incredible news,” she says.
Now, Leesfield is working with politician Cate Faehrmann, marine spokesperson for the Australian Greens party in New South Wales, to legalize protection of the sharks and make the no-fishing zone protected by the law.
1. Why gray nurse sharks are gradually dying out?| A．The legitimation of fishing. |
| B．The increase in the area of ocean pollution. |
| C．Ocean warming and human activities. |
| D．The prosperity and development of tourism. |
| A．Increased. | B．Decreased. | C．Disappeared. | D．Canceled. |
| A．Fishers are not permitted to fishing in Fish Rock. |
| B．Gray nurse sharks prefer to live in cold and deep waters. |
| C．Gray nurse sharks are listed as an endangered species by IUCN. |
| D．Fish Rock has been named as a Hope Spot by Leesfield. |
| A．The protection of the sharks has been legalized. |
| B．It’s easy to enlarge the non-fishing zone. |
| C．Hope Spots are enlarged due to Leesfield’s efforts. |
| D．Leesfield and Faehrmann will work together to protect sharks through the law. |
2 . Most old, disused airports are usually torn down to make way for shiny new developments, although at huge cost, but not Tegel airport, in Berlin, Germany. The deserted 580 acres will be turned into an eco-friendly living neighborhood land, in Tegel Project that officials hope will become the blueprint for future disused airports.
After the airport was closed down a number of years ago, following the building of a newer and modern version nearby, developers began dreaming up the ambitious 5 million square meter Tegel Project. Those behind the project hope it will address housing shortages, pollution and other ban living problems. It will provide at least 5,000 homes for more than 10,000 people.
The entire project is all about being energy-efficient: vertical gardens (垂直花园) on apartment blocks, which is one way to keep buildings cool without costly air conditioning. Every rooftop is also going to be fitted with solar panels which will provide electricity. Sponge City technology, such as rain gardens, will help the city absorb as much water as possible.
Although turning an airport into a neighborhood isn’t common, it’s not the first time it’s happened. When Denver’s main airport moved to a new location, developers made the most out of the old airport and converted the space into a residential community with important locations like hospitals, schools, and supermarkets easily reached on foot.
Next to the new development in Germany’s former Tegel airport will be a commercial zone. The Urban Technology Republic is aimed at tech companies that will be encouraged to open offices in the development, as well as a large city park that will stretch across half of the urban tech space. There will also be a campus for the Berliner Hochschule fur Technik University. Construction is due to begin in 2023, with the first areas opening by 2027.
1. Why did developers come up with Tegel Project?| A．To make room for city gardens. | B．To help solve rural living problems. |
| C．To reuse Tegel airport in a green way. | D．To set a good example for future cities. |
| A．Tegel Project has proven costly. |
| B．Vertical gardens are built on the rooftop. |
| C．A city park will be the center of the Tegel airport. |
| D．The practice of using old airport has been tried before. |
| A．Transformed. | B．Carried. | C．Slid. | D．Divided. |
| A．Less Is More | B．Trash Can Be Treasure |
| C．Technology Makes a Difference | D．Human and Nature Live in Peace |
3 . When scientists talk about recent extinctions, birds and mammals (哺乳动物) get most of the attention. But the first global analysis of its kind finds it is twice as many plants that have disappeared as birds, mammals, and amphibians (两栖动物) combined.
Researchers reviewed published research, international databases, and museum specimens such as grasses from Madagascar, finding that 571 plants species have gone extinct in the past 250 years. One reason why the total is higher than that of the well-studied animals is that there are simply more species of plants. Looking at percentages, the situation is worse for mammals and birds. An estimated 5% of those species have gone extinct, compared with 0.2% of plants.
The loss includes the Chile sandalwood tree in the South Pacific, which was cut down for its fragrant (芳香的) wood. It was last seen on Robinson Crusoe Island in 1908. The extinction rates among plants have been highest for trees and shrubs on islands, which often have species that occur nowhere else, and in regions with rich diversity, especially the tropics and in Mediterranean climates.
Just a few years later, the world lost the banded Trinity (Thismia americana), a leafless plant that grew entirely underground except for its flowers. Most species of this kind of plant grow in rainforests, but this plant was first described in 1912 in a sandy wetland in Chicago, Illinois, and was wiped out by development.
According to the team’s report in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the total of 571 extinct plant species is four times higher than the official listing kept by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Even so, it is probably still an underestimate (低估), as less is known about the status of plants in Africa and South America than on other continents. Many of these species may disappear, too. A major review of the status of global biodiversity recently estimated that more than a million species, including 14% of plant and animal diversity, are threatened with extinction.
1. What caused the extinction of the Chile sandalwood tree?| A．Climate change. | B．The market demand. |
| C．Environmental pollution. | D．The decline of the habitat. |
| A．It flowered without bearing seeds. |
| B．It disappeared during the 19th century. |
| C．It was a flowering plant without leaves. |
| D．It was a rare plant growing underground. |
| A．Their current situation is more worrying. |
| B．About one plant species dies out every year. |
| C．More plant species will keep alive in the reserve. |
| D．They would be replaced by other new species soon. |
| A．Sports. | B．Nature. | C．Entertainment. | D．Figures. |
4 . Finding low-cost sustainable building materials is important for the environment and in providing access to affordable housing. Researchers have created a composite (复合的) building material by replacing sand in building materials with a common, non-degradable (不可降解的) waste product: used disposable diapers (一次性尿布).
Driven by a desire to solve Indonesia’s significant population growth and demand for low-cost housing, researchers looked for a way of maintaining the benefits of building materials but making it more environmentally friendly and cheaper to produce. Building material samples containing different proportions (比例) of disposable diaper waste were tested. Then the researchers calculated the maximum amount of sand that could be replaced with diaper waste, finding that up to 8% of the sand could be replaced to safely construct a house with 36 square meters. 10% of the sand could be replaced in a three-story house and 27% in a single- story house. In terms of the materials used to create partition walls (隔断墙), the researchers said they could replace up to 40% of sand.
“This research has concluded that adding used diapers to building materials does not significantly weaken its strength, ” the team stated. “It proves using diapers to create composite materials is feasible, particularly concerning the development of environmentally friendly and cost-effective materials. ”
Indonesia is ranked sixth globally for disposable diaper usage. Many used diapers are thrown away in the country’s rivers and waterways, causing pollution. In 2019, the total waste in Indonesia was 29. 21 million tons. This figure rose to 32. 76 million tons in 2020.
However, the researchers know the current limitations of using waste diapers as a construction material. For one thing, it would require engagement with waste treatment facilities to collect used diapers from households and deal with them. Secondly, machines that cut up the used diapers would be needed on a large scale.
Nonetheless, the research highlights the potential for using non-degradable waste, addressing sustainability issues and providing low-cost housing.
1. Which is an advantage of replacing sand with used disposable diapers?| A．Lowering carbon footprint. | B．Speeding up the construction of housing. |
| C．Increasing the weight of building materials. | D．Improving the quality of building materials. |
| A．Enormous. | B．Conservative. | C．Practical. | D．Urgent. |
| A．To introduce a topic. | B．To attract the readers. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．Building Materials Are in Great Demand |
| B．Indonesia’s Awareness of Environmental Protection |
| C．A Further Study on Materials of Disposable Diapers |
| D．Waste Disposable Diapers Lay the Foundation for Future Homes |
5 . The Pacific island of Tonga was struck by huge volcanic explosion on January 15, 2022, which was followed by a tsunami (海啸) that flooded the regions of the capital, Nuku’alofa. Witnesses reported ash was falling over the capital, and social media images showed water flooding into a church and many residences. Local residents had to flee to higher ground when the tsunami warning was issued.
The capital of Tonga is around 65 kilometers north of the volcano. The volcano’s plumes of gas, smoke, and ash extended 20 kilometers into the sky, according to Tonga Geological Services. According to authorities in Suva, the eight-minute eruption was so powerful that it could be heard as “loud thunder sounds” more than 500 miles away. Storm waves have been predicted in New Zealand, which is more than 2,300 kilometers away from Tonga.
Internet and phone lines went down after the violent volcanic eruption, leaving the 105,000 residents on the islands almost uncontactable. All communication to the outside world in Tonga was affected due to damage to the undersea cable (电缆). Digicel, a Jamaican phone company that partly owns the Tonga Cable System, said that it might take 24 hours to restore the important communications link before it could provide an update on work. The company said it was working urgently with local authorities to “resolve the damage”, adding that its domestic (国内的) mobile phone towers were operating across the main island of Tongatapu.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the New Zealand government has made an initial sum of 340,000 dollars available to provide assistance to Tonga. An Australian Air Force P8 Poseidon aircraft also reached Tonga on January 17. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that China is closely watching the volcanic eruptions and the disasters including tsunami and volcanic ash in Tonga, and stands ready to provide every possible support and assistance at Tonga’s request.
1. What was the influence of the tsunami?| A．The huge volcanic explosion struck Tonga. |
| B．Local residents were forced to move away. |
| C．The capital of Tonga was completely flooded. |
| D．Many churches and residents were flooded away. |
| A．The reason for the volcanic explosion. |
| B．The enormous losses caused by the flood. |
| C．The serious air pollution due to volcanic ash. |
| D．The widespread effect of the volcanic eruption. |
| A．In total confusion. | B．In great danger. |
| C．Out of sight. | D．Out of touch. |
| A．Support from different countries is around the corner. |
| B．The way of predicting natural disasters needs improving. |
| C．Post-disaster reconstruction faces many difficulties. |
| D．Volcanic eruptions have a great effect on global climate. |
My family lives by the Pacific Ocean, and my son, Ryan, has always loved marine animals. When he was three, Ryan came to the recycling center with me. He had fun
The next day, Ryan announced he was starting a recycling business: Ryan’s Recycling. He and my wife delivered trash bags to each of
Ryan is saving the refund money to buy a truck and hopes to expand his business
7 . When it comes to the ocean, you may think of a visit to the beach, whales or coral reefs. To me, I think the ocean is out of expanse of deep dark water and it is filled with life and mystery and opportunity.
Whatever you think of, the ocean is much more. It is a complex physical, chemical and biological system that takes up 70% of our planet. What we do know is that the ocean is an important part of our life support system on the planet. It produces at least 50% of the oxygen that we breathe. It also regulates temperature for the planet.
Without the ocean, the poles would be unbearably cold and the equator would be unbearably hot. And it would be a lot harder to live on earth. Now we consider saving the ocean from plastic, from oil spills or from overfishing. But really, we should be thinking about how the ocean is saving us. It is saving us from the climate change that we are creating. Basically, what we need to do is think about not how to save the ocean, but instead how the ocean can actually help us in this fight against climate change.
Already, the ocean is absorbing 25 to 30% of the CO2 that we release into the atmosphere. It is the world’s largest carbon sink. It has also absorbed 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. So it is basically helping to keep the planet habitable. When we think about climate action, climate strategies and climate plans, we often overlook the ocean and leave it out because somehow we think that saving the ocean is something else we have to do, not a core part of our climate strategy.
That’s what has to change because the ocean is a core part of our climate system, and so it has to be a core part of our climate solutions.
1. What does the author think of the ocean’s meaning to humans?| A．It supports life system on the planet. |
| B．It offers chances to find mysterious treasure. |
| C．It provides a large number of deep dark water. |
| D．It is a perfect place to watch whales and coral reefs. |
| A．Low. | B．High. | C．Moderate. | D．Extra. |
| A．The poles would be hot. | B．Overfishing would not be a problem. |
| C．The globe would be tougher to live on. | D．The climate would be changed slightly. |
| A．Strategies to save the ocean. | B．Whether the ocean is habitable. |
| C．Saving the ocean is saving humans. | D．A place to watch whales and coral reefs. |
8 . Once again, China has conquered the world’s highest peak, Mount Qomolangma, on May 4th, 2022. Thirteen members of the Chinese Earth Summit Mission 2022 scientific expedition (探险) team successfully established an automatic weather station at an altitude of over 8800 meters, the world’s highest of its kind, on Mount Qomolangma on the China-Nepal border, achieving the milestone task of the country’s second comprehensive survey to the roof of the world.
To finish this mission, Yao Tandong, a leader of the expedition, said they have organized a massive party consisting of 16 teams and over 270 researchers, some of whom trained for over two years for the project. Now they have set up eight stations from 5200 meters to 8800 meters on Mount Qomolangma, with four stations higher than 7000 meters respectively at 7028 meters, 7790 meters, 8300 meters and 8800 meters. These weather stations at different altitudes mainly monitor the temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed, pressure and radiation changes in the region, and can realize real-time remote transmission (传输) of data.
Conventional weather observations are generally below 5000 meters and rarely above 5000 meters, and such high-altitude weather observations are scarce at the moment, Zhao Huabiao, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, said. “The reason for building a weather station at 8800 meters instead of 8848 meters is that the snow and ice on the summit are not suitable for fixing equipment, and in this regard, the weather station was built on bedrock around 8800 meters which is easier,” said Zhao.
The team reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma and used high-accuracy radar to measure the thickness of ice and snow, and collected samples for further research. Kang Shichang, a researcher of the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said studying the changes to the glacier aims to clarify the impact of global warming, which is beneficial to mounting a global response to climate change. “Through the study of glacier changes and glacier air pollutants, we can see the impact of global and regional human activities in the Qomolangma area,” Kang said.
1. What do we know about the expedition team?| A．They built the world’s highest automatic weather station. |
| B．They found the quickest way to reach Mount Qomolangma. |
| C．They conducted an experiment successfully on the world’s highest peak. |
| D．They became the first Chinese team to do research on Mount Qomolangma. |
| A．The importance of real-time data transmission. |
| B．The tough environment of Mount Qomolangma. |
| C．The difficulty of monitoring weather conditions. |
| D．The challenging task of the scientific expedition. |
| A．To reduce the effect of strong winds. |
| B．To keep away from tough bedrocks. |
| C．To fix equipment more conveniently. |
| D．To predict the weather more accurately. |
| A．Its characteristics. | B．Its value of research. |
| C．Its formation process. | D．Its impact on climate change. |
9 . Most environmental pollution on Earth comes from humans and their inventions, such as cars or plastic. Today, car emissions(排放物) area major source of air pollution leading to climate change, and plastics fill our ocean, creating a significant health issue to marine(海洋的) animals.
And what about the electric light, thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time? Electric light can be a beautiful thing, guiding us home when the sun goes down，keeping us safe and making our homes bright. However, like carbon dioxide emissions and plastic, too much of a good thing has started to impact the environment. Light pollution, the inappropriate use of outdoor light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior and our ability to observe stars.
Light pollution is a global issue. This became obvious when the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016. Available online for viewing, the map shows how and where our globe is lit up at night. Vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia are glowing(发光) with light, while only the most remote regions on Earth(Greenland, Central African Republic and Niue) are in total darkness. Some of the most light-polluted countries in the world are Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over cities, due to the electric lights of cars, street lamps, offices, factories, outdoor advertising, and buildings, turning night into day for people who work and play long after sunset.
People living in cities with high levels of sky glow have a hard time seeing more than a handful of stars at night. Astronomers are particularly concerned with sky glow pollution as it reduces their ability to view stars.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population, and 99 percent of Americans and Europeans, live under sky glow.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．The use of outdoor light must be forbidden. |
| B．Electric light has both advantages and disadvantages. |
| C．Electric light is the main factor to keep us safe. |
| D．Electric light is the greatest human invention. |
| A．Qatar. | B．Singapore. | C．Kuwait. | D．Niue. |
| A．Sky glow costs too much. |
| B．Sky glow has a bad effect on their sleep. |
| C．Sky glow affects their viewing stars. |
| D．Sky glow wastes too much electricity. |
| A．Light pollution | B．Plastic pollution |
| C．Different kinds of pollution | D．Air pollution |
10 . The production and distribution of food accounts for around a third of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. But as a consumer, it’s difficult to measure the climate impact of what you eat. A Dublin-based startup called Evocco could soon make it a cinch. “It lets you track, improve and offset the climate impact of your food purchases,” co-founder Hugh Weldon says.
Users simply photograph their grocery receipt using the Evocco app, which identifies the food products by reading the printed text and using machine learning. It then calculates the carbon footprint based on the store’s location and by checking the type, weight and origin of a food against a database. The app also gives users the option to offset their shopping by contributing to Go Carbon Neutral, an Irish not-for-profit initiative that plants native woodland.
As well as the immediate impact of offsetting groceries, Evocco hopes to raise public awareness of the carbon footprint of different foods. Some factors are well known — for instance, animal products are typically more resource-intensive than most plant-based alternatives, and importing products increases their carbon footprint — but the app also helps identify other important differences between items, such as seasonality or whether refrigeration was required on the journey to market. It also offers tips on how to reduce shopping emissions. The app has been downloaded more than 1,000 times since its launch.
As well as the personal shopping app, Evocco is developing a digital tool to sell to food retailers, e-commerce platforms and delivery apps that will track the climate impact of a product’s journey through the supply chain. The aim is to help retailers provide climate impact information directly for consumers, while also giving Evocco access to product data to improve its app. “Our vision is to be the go-to digital tool for the food industry when it comes to supplying climate impact information and sustainable consumption insights,” says Weldon.
1. What does the underlined part “a cinch” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．A huge success. | B．An easy task. |
| C．A great challenge. | D．An official standard. |
| A．Local seasonal fruits. | B．Local refrigerated meat. |
| C．Imported cold chain meat. | D．Imported seasonal vegetables. |
| A．Finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint. |
| B．Promoting the food industry on e-commerce platforms. |
| C．Monitoring products’ climate impact during transportation. |
| D．Helping consumers access up-to-date information about retailers. |
| A．Why grocery stores are bad for the environment |
| B．What to buy at grocery stores for the lowest carbon footprint |
| C．Go Carbon Neutral helps offset your shopping’s carbon footprint |
| D．An app can work out your carbon footprint from your grocery receipt |
