1 . There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been hardest hit. Fires have torn through bushland (未开垦的丛林地带), wooded areas, and national parks. Some start and are controlled in a few days, but the biggest fires have been burning for months.
Each year there is a fire season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for fires to start and spread. Natural causes are responsible for fires most of the time, like lightning hits in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was to blame for starting a number of fires in late December, which then traveled more than 20 kilometers in just five hours. Humans can also be responsible. Police have charged(指控) at least 24 people with starting bushfires on purpose, and have taken action against 183 people for setting fire since November.
The fire season in Australia is always dangerous — the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually bad this year, making fires burn more strongly and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult. Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts over the years. Meanwhile, a heatwave in December broke the record for the highest nationwide average temperature, with some places under temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. Strong winds have also made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, and have led to deaths.
About half a billion animals have been affected by the fires across NSW, with millions possibly dead — and that’s lower than what is probably the real number. That number of total animals influenced could be as high as one billion nationwide. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of the places where they live have been destroyed.
Some animals, like koalas, aren’t in any immediate danger of extinction (灭绝) because they are spread out across the country. But others that live in more suitable environments with lower populations, including certain types of frogs and birds, could be destroyed entirely if their home is hit by the fires.
1. What do we know about fires in Australia?| A．They may last a long time. |
| B．They often happen in winter. |
| C．They only happen in NSW. |
| D．They are easily controlled in a few hours. |
| A．Big fire. |
| B．Strong wind. |
| C．Serious drought. |
| D．A period of hot weather. |
| A．They can run fast. |
| B．They live far and wide. |
| C．Their home is well protected. |
| D．They have a lower population. |
| A．Deadly bushfires affect the life of humans and animals. |
| B．Many causes have contributed to the bushfires in Australia. |
| C．Some species are endangered because of the frequent fires. |
| D．More firm measures should be taken to control the fires. |
1. 露营造成的问题；
2. 爱护环境的倡议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(^)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
The environment pollution is more and more seriously today. We have no clean water to drink it because of water pollution. And when trees cut down, some animals disappear. There was more and more dirty smoke in the air. People’s health has been greatly affecting by air, noise and water pollution. Many people have died of disease caused by pollution. In order to live the better life, it’s time for us to protect our world.
Firstly, we shouldn’t throw away rubbish everywhere. And we should recycle, reduce and reuse things, what saves money and reduces pollution. Use things so long as possible. Don’t use plastic bags. Besides, we must plant more trees and stop people cut them down. We hope our world will be more and more beautiful.
4 . For every goal that Lesein Mutunkei scores, trees get planted. It’s a simple yet effective message that appeals, and leads to a satisfying way of motivating us to promote environmentalism in our own way.
Born in Nairobi, Lesein is in his late teens, and his Trees4Goals is the means with which he intends to make the world greener. It unites two of his passions in life: love of the outdoors and love of football. Lesein enjoyed walking in the forest. He recognised his country was experiencing a serious loss of tree cover. Between 2001 and 2020, Kenya lost an estimated 11% of trees, releasing 176 million tons of CO2.
In a blog post for WWF Kenya, Lesein revealed that, once he started the Trees4Goals initiative, he originally planned to plant one tree per goal. In 2020, he wanted to take his efforts even further. What started as one tree planted per goal mushroomed into 11 trees planted per goal. Explaining the reason behind expanding the tree-planting, he said, “It represents team efforts in football and the contribution by my team. I have planted over 1,000 trees in the last two years.”
While it’s something of an own goal to destroy the forests and jungles providing enormous biodiversity, initiatives like Trees4Goals are an assured way to score an environmentalist hat-trick. Sports such as football are popular with the booming Kenyan population and have the ability to cut through cultural barriers regardless of the countries they are played in. Sports have the power to unify and excite large audiences. Lesein Mutunkei has taken this strategy and scored a winning goal of his own.
Like a seed, best ideas start small and change into something that can become far larger than anticipated. While Lesein continues planting 11 trees per goal, the Kenyan government is aiming to plant 1.8 billion trees to reach a point where 10 per cent of the country is covered by trees. The science behind is clear; a report in 2019 claimed that if 900 million hectares were devoted to additional tree planting of half a trillion trees, the world could offset (抵消) half of all carbon emissions produced since 1960.
1. What gave Lesein the idea of launching the project?| A．Release of too much CO2. | B．His dream of motivating others. |
| C．His passion for sports and nature. | D．Habit of exercising in the woods. |
| A．He created a blog for WWF. | B．He set a higher aim. |
| C．He planted one tree for each goal. | D．He extended his work to other teams. |
| A．The aim that is intended to achieve. | B．Action that harms one’s own interests. |
| C．Pursuit of one’s personal success. | D．The goal that is scored for the opposing team. |
| A．United, we win. | B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．Love me, love my dog. | D．Small deeds, big difference. |
5 . Warm-blooded species are evolving (进化) to have larger beaks, legs and ears to regulate body temperature as the planet warms up, new study suggests. The scientists behind the study warn the physiological changes do not mean animals are coping with climate change. If animals fail to control their body temperature, they can overheat and die.
Some animals in warmer climates have historically evolved to have larger beaks or ears to get rid of heat more easily. A larger wing, ear or beak relative to body size gives smaller animals a greater surface area to lose excess heat. Several species of Australian parrot have shown a 4-10% increase in size since 1871, which correlates with the rising summer temperatures over the years, the study says.
The scientists do say it’s hard to put the climate as the only cause of shapeshifting, but that other examples of species changing show the effect of heat. Wood mice are evolving to have longer nails, masked shrews are getting longer tails and legs, and bats in warm climates have bigger wings. The study suggests that shapeshiting is likely to continue as the climate becomes warmer because higher temperatures will influence the demand on animals to regulate their body temperature.
“Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is fine,” Sara says. “It just means they are evolving to survive it, but we re not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or that all species are capable of changing and surviving. The climate change that we have created is heaping a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.”
1. Why the warm-blooded species are evolving to be larger?| A．To cope with climate change. |
| B．To regulate their body temperature. |
| C．To control their body temperature. |
| D．To grow up. |
| A．Change. | B．Evolve. | C．Relate. | D．Control. |
| A．Animals are coping with climate change. |
| B．Animals all are fine. |
| C．Animals are evolving to survive. |
| D．Animals are larger and larger. |
| A．Shapeshifting is caused by climate change. |
| B．All species are capable of changing and surviving. |
| C．Protect environment is very important. |
| D．Only the fittest can survive. |
6 . When it comes to going green, intention can be easier than action. Case in point: you decide to buy a T-shirt made from 100% organic cotton, because everyone knows that organic is better for Earth. And in some ways it is; in conventional cotton-farming, pesticides strip the soil of life. But that green label doesn’t tell the whole story. Or the possibility that the T-shirt may have been dyed using harsh industrial chemicals, which can pollute local groundwater. If you knew all that, would you still consider the T-shirt green?
It’s a question that most of us are ill equipped to answer, even as the debate over what is and isn’t green becomes all-important in a hot and crowded world.
But what if we could seamlessly calculate the full lifetime effect of our actions on the earth and on our bodies?
| A．Would you still buy it? |
| B．What if we could think ecologically? |
| C．It’s going to have a radical impact on the way we do business. |
| D．Ecological intelligence is ultimately about more than what we buy. |
| E．Not just carbon footprints but social and biological footprints as well? |
| F．But nothing in evolution has prepared us to understand the accumulative impact industrial chemicals may have on us. |
| G．That’s because our ability to make complex products with complex supply chains has outpaced our ability to comprehend the consequences. |
7 . It was a perfect summer morning on the beach in Rio De Janeiro. A man set up his umbrella and chair near the water and was ready to read his book. Just then, when he looked toward the sea, he noticed a small shape that came out of the water. It slowly made its way out onto the sand and began to flap its wings. It was obviously weak and tired.
When the animal was just a few feet away, the man couldn’t believe his eyes. A penguin(企鹅)? Penguins don’t live in Rio. The man was amazed. He looked around to see if there was anyone else noticing this strange sight.
A jogger soon appeared, followed by another. They stopped and stared. It was clear that the penguin was having trouble breathing. The first jogger looked at the sea and said, “Poor thing, so far away from home.”
The penguin fell to its side. It had swum 2000 miles, trying to find the tiny fish that penguins like to eat. Why did the penguin need to travel so far? Perhaps it was confused (使糊涂) by moving ocean currents (水流) and temperatures—common effects of global (全球的) warming. The penguin needed help. It would not survive on the hot sand.
One of the joggers phoned for help, and soon some firemen arrived. The man was glad that the penguin would soon be safe, although he felt a little sad too.
The event on the beach at Rio happened some time ago. It was only the beginning of penguin migration (迁移) to Brazil. Since that time, hundreds of penguins have appeared on the coasts of Brazil. They come all the way from Patagonia and the Straits of Magellan, southern parts of South America. They land on the sands very tired and hungry, and many of them die. Some are shipped or flown back to colder waters farther south.
Perhaps the experience of the penguins will help us better understand the serious effects of human activities on climathte change and on the condition of our planet.
1. What is the meaning of flap?| A．拍打 | B．开心 | C．喜欢 | D．卧倒 |
| A．hopeful | B．happy | C．surprised | D．worried |
| A．tell us the experience of the penguins |
| B．call on us to save the penguins on the beach of Rio |
| C．show people in Brazil are friendly to penguins |
| D．remind people to mind human activities and protect our planet |
| A．Brazil Beach. | B．South American Culture. |
| C．Unexpected Guests. | D．Human Activities. |
8 . A new app promises to help Barcelona residents find the shadiest route between two places to avoid extreme heat. Cool Walks, a routing tool for people first developed at a data visualization contest, aims to show users a variety of walking routs to take for their intended destinations.
Users can choose the most direct route, a shady route that may take a little longer, or they can set the app to a special mode, which avoids direct sunlight at all costs. Users can also use the app to find drinking fountains, or places to shelter from the sun.
The app uses a tool called Lidar to create high-resolution models of ground, accurate to within 10 cm. This information is combined with data on the sun’s path to work out where is in shade at any given time of day.
Barcelona is looking to use green spaces and trees as part of its efforts to mitigate the effects of global heating. The city’s 20-year tree master plan aims to increase the proportion (比例) of land covered by trees from 25%to 30%. Although the tool only maps one neighborhood of Barcelona, it is hoped the research will provide information on how the city can adapt to extreme heat to protect its citizens and economy.
Heatwaves kill more people than any other climate risk. According to C40, a climate leadership group made up of 97 cities around the world, extreme heat events in cities can cause death increase of up to 14%, as well as lower workforce productivity and damage infrastructure (基础设施) such as roads and rail lines.
Jon Burke, a former consultant for Hackney in London, who was responsible for a massive expansion of tree planting in the district, said: “I think we should view this particular kind of app as a temporary measure to reduce the impacts of extreme heat… while cities rapidly invest in urban canopy (树冠层) cover and broader green infrastructure.”
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．The designer of the app. | B．The function of the app. |
| C．The potential users of the app. | D．The working principle of the app. |
| A．relieve | B．feel | C．consider | D．predict |
| A．To stress the importance of road construction. |
| B．To raise awareness of protecting the environment. |
| C．To indicate the background for designing the app. |
| D．To give warnings of more upcoming disasters. |
| A．Jon Burke has a great sense of duty. |
| B．The district needs to be expanded. |
| C．Investment in tree planting is a wise choice. |
| D．The app is powerful enough to cope with heatwaves. |
9 . Many animals and plants are endangered in the world today. These endangered species are threatened with becoming extinct, meaning they will no longer exist on Earth. Examples include the Cuban Macaw and the Sri Lankan Legume Tree. Illegal hunting, and collecting of the Macaw bird for pets, led to its extinction. While the main reason the native Sri Lankan Legume Tree went extinct was due to habitat loss from development in the 20th century. The main cause for animals and plants disappearing is often a damage to the food chain due to hunting, habitat loss or even the introduction of new species.
Every living thing from one- celled animals to a blue whale needs to eat. Nature is connected and controlled by many weak food chains. A food chain describes who eats whom in a habitat. When one of the links in a food chain is no longer present—for example, a species goes extinct—the food chain breaks and sometimes this can cause other animals to disappear and the whole system can become imbalanced or even collapsed.
Humans can have horrible effects on food chains. When people first explored the world, they took animal and plant species from their home countries to the places they explored and settled in. They did not realize the consequences of introducing invasive species. By doing so, they were damaging the natural food chains of the areas they explored.
Nowadays there are strict rules controlling the movement of animals and plants between countries. But some parts of the world are still experiencing problems with invasive species introduced hundreds of years ago.
With rising awareness of how we affect the natural environment, hopefully we can learn to protect these food chains and help them to thrive. Otherwise the continued loss of species will eventually mean our own extinction.
1. Which is the main reason for Cuban Macaw’s extinction?| A．Illegal hunting. | B．Food chain damage. |
| C．Invasive species. | D．Habitat loss. |
| A．It only affects one-celled animals. | B．It decides the balance of the whole system. |
| C．It is always broken by invasive species. | D．It breaks after nearly ten species disappear. |
| A．By hunting endangered animals. | B．By exploring new places. |
| C．By polluting natural environment. | D．By introducing invasive species. |
| A．Disappearance of Endangered Species | B．Effect of Illegal Hunting on a Habitat |
| C．The Link between Food Chains and Extinction | D．Damage of Invasive Species |
10 . Every year, tens of thousands of kids aged 3 to 13 become Junior Rangers in different national parks across America. At Yosemite alone more than 20, 000 kids take part in the Yosemite Junior Ranger Program. If you want to be a Junior Ranger, you need to learn about the natural and cultural history, and make a promise to be a national park protector.
Here Is How YOU Can Become a Junior Ranger!
Earn yourself an official Junior Ranger Badge You could become a Yosemite’s Junior, Ranger today by completing the following steps:
•Buy your Junior Ranger Handbook in the nearest Visitor Center.
•Complete the pages in the handbook.
•Pick up rubbish.
•Attend a Guided Program.
•Return your completed handbook and a bag of rubbish to the Visitor Center.
•Make your official Junior Ranger Promise at a ceremony.
•Get your official Junior Ranger Badge.
After you become a Junior Ranger, you are encouraged to share your ranger stories with your friends, teachers and families.
1. Who can become Junior Rangers?| A．Children. | B．Parents. | C．Teachers. | D．Officers. |
| A．Read the handbook. | B．Learn American history. |
| C．Share ranger stories. | D．Protect the national parks. |
| A．Collect a bag of rubbish. | B．Start a Guided Program. |
| C．Write your ranger stories to friends. | D．Get a Junior Ranger Handbook for free. |
