1 . In 1620, about half the USA was covered by forests. Today the forests have almost gone. A lot of good land has gone with them, leaving only sand. China doesn’t want to copy the USA’s example. We’re planting more and more trees. We’ve built the “ Great Green Wall” of trees across northern part of our country. The Great Green Wall is 7,000 kilometres long, and between 400 and 1,700 kilometres wide. It will stop the wind from blowing the earth away. It will stop the sand from moving towards the rich farmland in the south. More “Great Green Walls” are needed. Trees must be grown all over the world. Great Green Walls will make the world better.
1. In 1620, about ________ the USA was covered by forests.| A．a third | B．half | C．two thirds | D．a fourth |
| A．sand | B．water | C．wind | D．forests |
| A．7,000 kilometers | B．1,700 kilometers |
| C．7,000 meters | D．400 kilometers |
| A．China | B．the USA |
| C．some countries | D．every part of the world |
| A．The Great Wall | B．Tall buildings |
| C．Great Green Walls | D．Flowers and grass |
2 . Bosses trying to quickly increase productivity should give up brainstorming meetings and instead invest in office plant, a study has found.
Green plants in offices increase work output by 15 percent, and challenges the “lean philosophy”(极简哲学)which holds that tidy buildings are best for concentration.
In experiments at two large commercial offices in the UK and The Netherlands, it was found that plants significantly increased workplace satisfaction, levels of focus, and air quality. “Simply decorating an office space with plants help to increase productivity by 15 percent,” said lead researcher Marlon Nieuwenhuis.
“This conclusion doesn't agree with the modern ‘lean’ management techniques, yet it points out a path to a more enjoyable, more comfortable and a more profitable form of office-based workings.” She added, “Our research suggests that investing in decorating the office with plants will pay off through an increase in workers’ quality of life and productivity. It directly challenges the widely accepted business philosophy that a lean office with clean desks is more productive.”
Previous studies have shown that the presence of plants can reduce physiological(生理上的) stress, increase the attention span and improve health and well-being.
Researchers studied offices over several months during which plants were removed and added. Professor Alex Haslam, who also worked on the study, added, “The lean philosophy has been influential across a wide range of organizational fields. Our research questions this widespread belief that less is more. Sometimes less is just less.”
Plants are beneficial because a green office makes employees more physically and emotionally involved in their work.
Another researcher Dr. Craig Knight said: “Psychologically manipulating(处理，操纵)real workplaces and real jobs adds new depth to our understanding of what is right and what is wrong with existing workspace design and management. We are now providing a model of a really smart office.”
1. According to the “lean philosophy”, ________.| A．green plants can increase productivity. |
| B．green plants may disturb people’s concentration. |
| C．a beautiful environment is beneficial to productivity. |
| D．green plants will help bosses come up with new ideas. |
| A．it may create a new way of management. |
| B．it will lead to less investment in offices. |
| C．it may lead to a better form of office-based workings. |
| D．it challenges the widely accepted brainstorming meetings. |
| A．The “lean philosophy” is widely adopted nowadays. |
| B．A green office helps employees focus on their work. |
| C．Green plants will make office workers more efficient. |
| D．When it comes to decorating offices, the less the better. |
| A．blame the “lean philosophy”. |
| B．show how to increase productivity. |
| C．Persuade bosses to remove plants from offices. |
| D．indicate the effects of green plants on works’ efficiency. |
1.感谢他的关心；
2.介绍情况：
(1)自去年冬天以来已经发生数次雾霾天气；
(2)人们已经认识到雾霾天气的危害，正采取各种措施减少其发生；
(3)你自己为此做了什么或打算做什么。
注意：1.词：80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：haze雾霾 environment 环境 poisonous 有毒的 mask 口罩 measure 措施
Dear Bill,
I' m glad to receive your letter. Thank you for caring for my health and the weather here.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your,
Li Hua
4 . Darrell Blatchley, a marine biologist and environmentalist based in the Philippine city of Davao, received a call from the Philippines, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (渔业与水产资源局) early Friday morning reporting a death of a young whale.
When the necropsy (尸检) was performed, Blatchley told NPR, he was not prepared for the amount of plastic they found in the whale’s stomach. “It was full of plastic nothing but nonstop plastic.” he said “It was filled to the point that its stomach was as hard as a baseball.” That means that this animal has been suffering not for days or weeks but for months or even a year or more,” Blatchley added.
Blatchley is the founder and owner of the D’Bone Collector Museum, a natural history museum in Davao. In the coming days, the museum will display all the items found in the whale’s system. Blatchley and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organizations to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals.
“Within the last 10 years, we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins just within the Davao Gulf,” he said. “Of them, 57 have died due to man whether they took plastic or fishing nets or other waste, or gotten caught in pollution — and four were pregnant.”
Blatchley said he hoped that the latest incident would launch the issue of plastic pollution in the Philippines and across the globe. “If we keep going this way, it will be more uncommon to see an animal die of natural causes than it is to see an animal die of plastic,” he said.
1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?| A．The whale was starved to death. |
| B．The dead whale must have swallowed a baseball. |
| C．Blatchley was very shocked at what he found. |
| D．Blatchley didn’t make preparations for the necropsy. |
| A．Waste collected from the ocean. |
| B．Things found in the whale’s body. |
| C．The whole system of the whale. |
| D．Many different tools of whaling. |
| A．Worrying. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Inspiring. | D．Mild. |
| A．A Whale Found Dead of Plastic | B．Stand Up for Protecting Whales |
| C．Plastic Threatening Our Existence | D．Natural Death or Merciless Murder |
5 . How to stay safe when an earthquake happens
What should you do when an earthquake comes about unexpectedly? Here are some tips for you.
●When walking outside
●When driving a car
Firmly hold the steering wheel（方向盘）, gradually reduce speed, park your car on the side of the road, and stop the engine.
●When underground or in a subway
The shaking you feel when you are underground is about half of what you would experience over ground.
●When in a high-rise building
●When near the ocean
Head for higher ground and carefully listen to tsunami（海啸） information. Do not go near the ocean until tsunami warnings have been cleared.
| A．Don't be buried in ruins. |
| B．Be careful about falling objects. |
| C．Don't even think about going to watch tsunamis! |
| D．Pay attention to the different signs of an earthquake. |
| E．Additionally, underground areas are safer than high-rise buildings. |
| F．Listen to information on the radio and find out what is happening. |
| G．Elevators with earthquake sensors will stop at the nearest floor. |
6 . A NASA-funded study used satellite to search for penguin poops (粪便) in Antarctica: funny at first sight though, it resulted in unique insights on the Adelie penguin’s diet and its future. The findings unlocked the secrets about the species that can provide an early-warning of threats to Antarctica’s delicate ecosystem.
Researchers used satellite images to see if the Adelie penguin’s diet has been changing in response to Antarctica’s changing climate. Adelie penguin population has dropped greatly in some areas even as the global population increases. The satellite images show their presence can be detected by the stain (污渍) left on the ice by their waste, called guano.
Male and female penguins take turns incubating (孵化) in the nest. The guano builds up in the same areas occupied by the nests. A global survey for Adelie penguins turned up 3.8 million breeding pairs. Also, the satellite data can detect the color of the penguin guano, ranging from white to pink to dark red. White guano is from eating mostly fish; pink and red would be from eating mostly krill (磷虾). The team found that while the Adelie penguin’s diet did show changes from year to year, no consistent pattern was obvious.
“This was a big surprise, since the abundance and distribution of Adelie penguins has changed dramatically over the last 40 years and scientists had assumed that a change in diet might have played a role,” said Casey Young. However, continuing changes in the physical environment and a growing krill fishery in the region are likely to have an influence on penguin prey (猎物) and penguin population itself. “They will be important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem, ” said Young.
1. What concerned scientists most according to paragraph 1?| A．The Antarctica’s ecosystem. | B．The Adelie penguin’s diet. |
| C．The climate change. | D．The secret of penguin poops. |
| A．The Adelie penguin population was 3.8 million worldwide. |
| B．Guano colors reflected the health condition of the penguin. |
| C．The Adelie penguin’s diet stayed the same most of the time. |
| D．Adelie penguin waste helped estimate the penguin population. |
| A．Changes of penguin’s diet without a definite pattern. |
| B．The wide range of the color of the penguin guano. |
| C．Dramatic changing of penguin population. |
| D．The abundance and distribution of Adelie penguins. |
| A．More Adelie penguins have appeared over the last 40 years. |
| B．Diet changes didn’t actually affect penguin population as assumed. |
| C．There was not an obvious changing pattern of penguin’s diet. |
| D．Fishery was important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem. |
7 . New research linked outdoor air pollution to an increased risk of diabetes (糖尿病) globally, according to a study from Washington University in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. The findings raised the possibility that reducing pollution might lead to a drop in diabetes cases.
“Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, a professor at Washington University. “We found an increased risk, even at low levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). This is important because many industry groups argue that current levels are too strict. Evidence shows that current levels are still not sufficiently safe and need tightening.” The findings were published on June 29 in The Lancet Planetary Health.
To evaluate outdoor air pollution, the researchers looked at small pieces of dust, smoke and liquid droplets. In diabetes, pollution was thought to reduce insulin (胰岛素) production and prevent the body from changing blood glucose (葡萄糖) into energy that the body needed to maintain health.
The researchers also found that poverty-stricken countries faced a higher diabetes-pollution risk including Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Guyana, while richer countries such as France, Finland and Iceland experienced a lower risk. The US experienced a middle risk of pollution-related diabetes.
In the US, the EPA’s pollution limit was 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the highest level of air pollution considered safe for the public, as was set by the Clean Air Act of 1990 and was updated in 2012. However, using mathematical models, Al-Aly’s team set an increased diabetes risk at 2.4 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Based on VA data, among a sample of citizens exposed to pollution at a level of between 5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, about 21 percent developed diabetes.
“The team in St. Louis is doing important research to firm up links between pollution and health conditions such as diabetes,” said commission member Philip J. Landrigan, MD, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. “I believe their research will have a significant global effect.”
1. What can we know from the first two paragraphs?| A．Diabetes had little to do with outdoor air pollution. |
| B．Reducing pollution might lead to a lot of diabetes cases. |
| C．Air pollution contributed significantly to diabetes globally. |
| D．Low-level air pollution was always considered safe by WHO. |
| A．By reducing insulin production. |
| B．By analyzing small matter in the air. |
| C．By connecting diabetes and pollution. |
| D．By checking blood glucose in the body. |
| A．To present a result. | B．To support his idea. |
| C．To make a comparison. | D．To draw a conclusion. |
8 . For some people, walking or running outdoors is a great way to work out. What may not be so pleasant is seeing trash all over the ground. Well, some people are doing something about it. They are plogging!
“Plogging” began in Sweden. The name combines the Swedish word “plocka,” which means to pick up, and the word Jogging, which means to run slowly. A Swedish man named Erik, started the movement in 2016. On the World Environment
Day website, Erik says that he moved to Stockholm from a small community in northern Sweden each day he would ride his bike to work. Concerned about the amount of trash and litter he saw each day on his way to work, he took matters into his own hands.
Plogging, by that term, may have officially begun in Sweden. But many people who exercise outdoors have been doing this for years. Take Jeff Horowitz for example. He is a personal trainer in Washington, D.C. He often picks up trash while running outside. He even has turned it into a game; he will try to pick up the trash without stopping. “I didn’t know it was a thing really. This is just my personal ethics (道德标准), where I go for a run and if I happen to see a piece of garbage lying around and it’s within reach — it is a kind of a little test for me to see if I can grab it and throw it in a near trash can without stopping. And that way, I think, it gives me a little exercise and a little focus for my run. And it helps clean up the neighborhood,” he announced.
Today, plogging is an official activity, one that is becoming increasingly popular. Cities around the world now hold logging events, “I would just hope people would think twice before dropping a garbage on the ground. We have containers seems on every block. So, it’s easy to put your garbage in the trash cans. I just think people should think about it a little bit more. I do hope one day there will not be a need for plogging.” said an interviewee.
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined phrase “took matters into his own hands”?| A．called on people to join him. | B．appealed to people to go green. |
| C．began to pick up the trash. | D．had the collected trash recycled. |
| A．Plogging comes naturally to joggers who care about the environment. |
| B．Plogging is an easy way to clean the environment. |
| C．It doesn’t make any sense to joy without picking up trash. |
| D．It is better to clean up the neighborhood by plogging. |
| A．Jogging is truly beneficial. | B．Trash cans should be within reach. |
| C．Littering is not acceptable. | D．Communities should be kept clean. |
| A．New Exercise Enjoys unbelievable popularity |
| B．New Exercise Trend Also Helps Environment |
| C．Plogging — a Fashionable Way to clear waste |
| D．Plogging — an Exercise Originating in Sweden |
The most powerful earthquake in the past 40 years caused a tsunami crashed into coastlines across Asia yesterday,
Indian officials said as many as 1, 900 had been killed
Thousands of people are still missing, and the number of deaths is expected
10 . Ecofriendly Vauban, lied in the southwest part of Germany, has everything—treelined streets, perfect houses—but it's missing one urban feature of the last 100 years or so: the car. And Vauban residents don't mind one bit. Vauban doesn't ban cars entirely. Rather, it just tries to reduce the use of cars by creating "parkingfree" and "carfree" living. In Vauban, parking spots are a nono private property. Cars can only be parked in public parking lots, so living without a car saves residents the cost of parking in the public lot. Cars also are prevented from using certain roads and must stick to strict speed limits. With these limitations, fewer than 20 percent of residents own cars. And now, with a population of 5,500, it's attracting attention from around the world. Can an ecofriendly city like Vauban be a model for Americans to stop their over reliance on the cars?
Sometimes when I watch a news report what's in the back of my mind is what isn't being reported or stressed. While this ecofriendly city is inspiring in that it shows residents getting exercise and fresh air through the majority use of bicycles, as well as good oldfashioned walking, common sense would tell you that even for a place like Vauban, Germany, it owes its existence to the cars.
Do you think that bicycles were able to transport all the construction materials that were needed to build and maintain the ecofriendly homes and businesses in Vauban? It took cars to help build this city. It's one of the paradoxes of life that sometimes in order to get away from relying on something like the car, you actually have to rely on that very thing at the beginning and into the foreseeable future to some degree.
I myself haven't owned a car for more than 14 years, and mostly get around town running, walking, or using public transportation. There are times I wish I had one, since it would make many things easier, but overall I'm glad not to have to deal with the headaches of owning a car, which caused me to get rid of it in the first place. And all the walking and running has helped to keep me fit and healthy. To get even close to being like ecofriendly Vauban, Americans will need to absolutely change the way they live. Commuting (乘车上下班) patterns will have to change, public transportation will have to be invested in, and so on. And though ending our love affair with the car will be impossible during my lifetime, we may at least start to see more Vaubanlike areas in the USA.
We can hope that Americans will consider using their feet more to get around, cutting down on pollution, and giving themselves some more exercise.
1. Why don't over 80% of the residents in Vauban own car?| A．The streets there are very narrow. |
| B．There are many limitations on the use of cars. |
| C．The government limits the number of cars. |
| D．Most cars belong to their public property. |
| A．opposite things |
| B．big shortcomings |
| C．great strengths |
| D．firm bases |
| A．Curious. |
| B．Proud. |
| C．Grateful. |
| D．Regretful. |
| A．Not mentioned. |
| B．They are not ecofriendly. |
| C．They have too many cars. |
| D．They work hard. |
