1 . Leaf peeping, the practice of traveling to watch nature display the fall colors, is a beloved annual activity, especially in New England. Typically, by the end of September, leaves take on warmer colors throughout the U.S. But this year, many areas haven’t even shaken off the green shades of summer. In Maine, forest rangers reported less than 70% color change and modest leaf drop.
It’s commonly believed that trees, like people, must prepare for winter. When fall arrives, and day length and temperature drop, trees respond by ending green substance production and absorbing remaining nutrients, causing leaves to lose the original color. Greens give way to yellows, reds and oranges that make for dramatic autumn displays.
Warm fall temperatures can make the fall colors appear later. Worse, dry summers can cause leaves to miss the fall color turn altogether. Delay of the start of the fall colors, which has been moving later into the fall, could continue. “My observations in the last decade have had more years that were later than what we consider historical averages. It can be a trend as the planet warms,” said the expert Jim Salge.
It’s not just the plants that suffer. “Turning leaves offer an irresistible mass of color — which, by estimate, brings in as much as billions of dollars a year in tourism in New England,” said Andy Finton, a forest ecologist. That’s another good reason to focus on preserving forests. Leaf peeping can stay part of the area’s feature if forests are given enough protection. “If we can keep them unharmed, they’ll provide things we’ve depended on, as well as fall inspiration,” said Finton.
1. What is special about the leaves in Maine this year?| A．They take on warm colors. | B．They drop earlier than normal. |
| C．They stay green longer. | D．They totally miss the fall color turn. |
| A．Ways of trees surviving winter. | B．Explanation of leaves changing color. |
| C．Functions of the green substance. | D．Effect of climate change on fall leaves. |
| A．The earth gets drier. | B．The temperature gets higher. |
| C．The earth gets warmer. | D．The leaves delay color change. |
| A．To introduce leaf peeping. | B．To report the right time for leaf peeping. |
| C．To call on people to admire fall leaves. | D．To warn people to take care of forests. |
2 . A new research shows human activity is changing the sound of the Earth's oceans and seas. Scientists say the sound changes of our oceans, seas, and other waterways affect many marine (海洋的) animals - from very small shrimps to huge whales.
Sound travels very far underwater, Francis Juanes, an ecologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, told the Associated Press. For fish, he explained, sound is probably a better way to sense their environment than light. Sounds help fish and other marine animals survive and communicate with each other. Sounds also help some ocean animals find food and avoid their hunters.
However, increased noise from humans is making it harder for these animals to hear each other. The noise is coming from shipping traffic, underwater exploration, and other noisy human activities. For many marine animals, their attempts to communicate are being masked by sounds that humans have produced. Experts explain that masking happens when one or more noises in the water block sound important to a marine animal's living. The overall number of marine animals has gone down by about half since 1970. Some studies show the stress from human noise might also affect the immune system as well as reproductive health or behavior. Imagine having to raise your kids in a place that's noisy all the time," said Joe Roman, a marine ecologist at the University of Vermont.
"When people think of problems facing the ocean, we often think of climate change, plastics, and overfishing. But noise pollution is another thing we need to be monitoring. Sound pollution may be easier to deal with than other ocean problems," Scientist Juanes says. "If we make something for the ocean, think about how to make it quieter."
1. Why is sound underwater important for ocean animals?| A．It changes with light. | B．It helps them judge and contact. |
| C．It travels very fast. | D．It guides fishermen to find where they are. |
| A．Underwater exploration must be stopped. |
| B．Kids exposed to noise can’t be healthy. |
| C．Human noise brings stress to marine animals. |
| D．Marine animals have got used to sound changes. |
| A．To introduce the principle of sounds. |
| B．To draw attention to ocean noise. |
| C．To show the effects of human activities。 |
| D．To share a method of studying oceans. |
| A．How to protect marine animals. |
| B．What is the main cause of sea pollution. |
| C．How to keep the number of marine animals. |
| D．What to do to reduce sound pollution in the ocean. |
3 . Our recommended list of environmental books covers a broad range of topics. These must-read environmental books are sure to spark the interest of the greenest books.
Silent Spring
Written by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring highlights the effects of pesticides (杀虫剂) on the environment, especially DDT, which was a very popular insecticide until it was finally banned in 1972. The book eventually led to a change in the United States’ pesticide policy and contributed to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.
This book collects 11 speeches made by climate activist Greta Thunberg, highlighting the issue of climate change and its impact on future generations. Greta Thunberg was 15 when she started the School Strike for Climate, also known as Fridays for Future. She inspired protests worldwide.
The Uninhabitable Earth
This book by David Wallace Wells examines the disasters that have already occurred and looks ahead to the year 2100 and what climate change will do if we continue on our current path. Its opening line is incredibly telling: “It is worse, much worse, than you think.”
The End of Nature
Published in 1989, the book describes the relationship between nature and humans. It expresses the idea that nature was previously independent of humans but has now been affected by them in every way. According to author Bill McKibben, the idea of wilderness is lost, and nature is no longer complete.
1. Which book brought the environment to the government’s attention?| A．Silent Spring. | B．The End of Nature. |
| C．The Uninhabitable Earth. | D．No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. |
| A．Curiosity. | B．Concern. | C．Annoyance. | D．Disappointment. |
| A．Nature will not exist any longer. | B．Wild animals are disappearing fast. |
| C．Human activities are destroying nature. | D．Climate change affects future generations. |
4 . Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.
Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.
This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.
Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking — we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”
Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.
The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. “When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (标识) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,” Mr. Morrison said.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers. |
| B．Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions. |
| C．Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home. |
| D．Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers, environmental awareness. |
| A．affect | B．change |
| C．disturb | D．reject |
| A．will benefit from cutting carbon emissions |
| B．should buy carbon allowances for shoppers |
| C．are required to make up for their carbon emissions |
| D．have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere |
| A．have a strong desire to reduce costs |
| B．use the same logo in their marketing |
| C．gain advantages by taking early action |
| D．attract more shoppers by storing goods |
5 . A four-year-old boy who was crazy about collecting rubbish has finally fulfilled his dream of being a cleaner. Riley McCourt has admired the local rubbish collectors for ages, spending his days picking up waste on his street and wheeling bins (垃圾桶) to the side of the road to help out his neighbors. He loves cleaning and binning waste. His favorite chore is to empty the rubbish from the chip shop his mum runs. Two weeks ago, however, a disaster struck: Riley accidentally knocked over one of the bins and was accused of causing trouble.
Someone posted in the local Facebook group that Riley had put rubbish in the street, clearly unaware of his love for keeping the streets clean. Thankfully his innocence was quickly proven, and his local council decided to make his dreams come true by allowing him to work alongside the cleaners for a day.
Riley joined the waste collection crew on Wednesday, chatting with the team, helping with the recycling, and riding in the waste collection vehicles. He even got his own jacket. Riley's mum, Toni McCourt, said, “He loves the bins and trucks.” Riley's favorite day is definitely bin day. He goes round collecting the rubbish up on the street. The cleaners all know him when they spot him. He goes outside as soon as he sees them come round. He helps his neighbors put their bins out for collection.
Riley clearly made a good impression during his first day on the job, as community services manager Jane Carrol said she was very pleased with his enthusiasm for the role. Jane said, “Riley is clearly a keen recycler and who knows, when he is older I'm sure he would make an excellent member of the team here. It was a pleasure for the team to show him around the vehicles.”
1. What is Riley's dream?| A．To prove his innocence. |
| B．To collect much rubbish. |
| C．To work as a real cleaner. |
| D．To work in his mother's shop. |
| A．He was wronged by someone. |
| B．He was knocked over by a bin. |
| C．He had an accident in the shop. |
| D．He forgot to empty the rubbish. |
| A．People go out to celebrate it. |
| B．The cleaners collect the bins. |
| C．People help Riley collect rubbish. |
| D．The cleaners collect rubbish in the bins. |
| A．It is dangerous to do so on the street. |
| B．It is good for the community to follow him. |
| C．It is worthwhile to give Riley high remarks. |
| D．It is unnecessary for such a little boy to do so. |
1. What’s getting less and less these days according to the talk?
| A．Empty land. | B．Garbage. | C．Water. |
| A．Burying it. |
| B．Sending it out of our planet. |
| C．Using it as an energy source. |
| A．It is hardly ever done. |
| B．It causes air pollution. |
| C．It is useless for hard materials. |
7 . We're so attached to plastic, but we're careless consumers. Waste plastic is entering our ecosystems and food chains with untold consequences. Cleaning up our polluted world of plastic may seem a noble, but thankless task. However, some people are seeing economic opportunity in the mission.
Plastic Bank, a social enterprise from Canada, is monetizing plastic recycling while empowering those most affected by the waste. It works to prevent waste plastic from entering oceans by encouraging people in developing countries to collect plastic from their communities in exchange for cash, food, clean water or school tuition for their children. After collection, plastic is weighed, sorted, chipped, melted into balls and sold on as“raw material”to be made into everything from bottles for cleaning products to clothing.
“I saw in large quantities; I saw an opportunity,”CEO David Katz told the audience at the Sustainable Brands Oceans conference in Porto, Portugal on November 14.“We reveal the value in this material,”he added.
Plastic Bank was founded in 2013 and launched on the ground operations in 2014 in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western, Hemisphere, where close to 60% of the population live under the poverty line. As result of poor waste disposal and recycling infrastructure (基础设施)，plastic waste enters rivers or is burned and poses the health threats to the local residents.
The company says i has over 2,000 collectors working in the country, with its full- time collectors on average 63% above the poverty line thanks to the income they make from the project. Through its app based payment system, many collectors now have bank accounts for the first time, and are able to ultimately escape ultra poverty.
“Nothing we're doing is against the laws of physics,”said Katz. “All the technology exists for us to solve and save the world. It's only creative thought.”
1. What is Plastic Bank aimed to do?| A．Test out creative ideas. |
| B．Discover new material. |
| C．Promote plastic recycling. |
| D．Stop people using plastic. |
| A．Purchasing- collecting—recycling. |
| B．Exchanging collecting—purchasing. |
| C．Collecting- exchanging—reproducing. |
| D．Persuading consuming—reproducing. |
| A．Haiti attaches great importance to recycling. |
| B．Many locals benefit greatly from the project. |
| C．Collecting is an efficient way to recycle waste. |
| D．The project has solved unemployment in Haiti: |
| A．Companies stand to ban plastic consumption |
| B．Technology finds its way to kick off poverty |
| C．David Katz speaks at the conference in Porto |
| D．Plastic Bank is fighting against plastic waste |
8 . People in Florida recently had to escape from flash floods after two feet of rain fell in 26 hours. Heavy rains caused a hillside to break down and bury a community in Washington State earlier this year. Rainstorms and floods attacked Colorado last year, and sudden floods swept Atlanta in 2009, and Nashville in 2010.
In the National Climate Assessment, published last week, researchers in the United States reported that “large increases in heavy rains have occurred in the Northeast, Midwest and Great Plains, where heavy downpours have caused caused flooding events and other relevant disasters”.
In the United States the increase in water vapor has been on the order of 3 percent or 4 percent since the 1970s when most of the human-caused global warming has occurred since then. That may not sound like a big jump, but the effect is enormous. Two leading scientists, Kevin E. Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and David R. Easterling at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ran some calculations and agreed that the global warming has on average put more than a trillion gallons (加仓) of extra water into the air over the 48 states, probably closer to two trillion. That extra water has to fall as rain or snow if the condition is suitable.
“It rains harder than it used to,” said Dr. Trenberth, who could not resist adding: “When it rains, it pours.” So they suggested intensifying standards for the designs of dams, and hardening roads and culverts (涵洞) against the possibility of more flash floods
Society responded by ignoring them. For someone sitting in Pensacola, Fla. wondering why the roads were washed out the other day might be a good part of the answer. They didn’t want to face the truth.
The warming of the planet has slowed in recent years, but scientists think that is likely temporary. They expect it to get much, much warmer as this century progresses, and that can only mean that the rains will fall harder still.
1. Why did the author mention some floods in the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the topic. | B．To attract young readers. |
| C．To show some evidence. | D．To show the latest events. |
| A．The condition o fain or snow. |
| B．The reason of the rains and floods. |
| C．The only effect of global warming. |
| D．The exact amount of water in the air. |
| A．Changing. | B．Adjusting. |
| C．Strengthening. | D．Decreasing. |
| A．The climate will be better soon. | B．The bad climate will disappear. |
| C．The bad climate will be worse. | D．The climate will keep the same. |
9 . In the wild, polar bears spend much of their lives wandering pack ice (浮冰群) in search of food. These bears have adapted to a high fat diet from ocean-going animals: they are rapid and dangerous swimmers, allowing them to easily catch animals as food. Each summer, as the pack ice starts to become smaller, polar bears draw closer to land to give birth to and care for babies. Many give up food during this period, hunting again when the ice returns and living on stored fat.
Pack ice is decreasing globally. When it does form, it disappears more quickly, and tends to be thinner as well. In 2004, several polar bear deaths by drowning were recorded. The bears had been trapped on faraway areas of floating ice, and had tried to swim for land. Due to the disappearance of the ice, they were tired and drowned before reaching shore safely. This problem is likely to grow as the pack ice becomes smaller.
The disappearance of the ice has other impacts for polar bears: they are losing their natural prey (猎物), who are also affected by the loss of habitat. The bears are not very good at catching land animals, and must compete with other species for these food sources. Land animals also don’t provide the high fat diet that polar bears need, which may lead to hunger. Hungry mothers may not be able to provide their babies with the nutrition needed, which will further contribute to the drop in polar bear population.
The deadly factors brought about by global warming put polar bears at risk. Drops in birth and survival rates have already been documented, and biologists are increasingly concerned about the animals’ odd behavior as a result of the loss of their natural habitat. Environmental organizations believe a global effort is needed to fight against global warming before it is too late for polar bears, as well as many other species that call Earth home.
1. In which season are baby polar bears born?| A．Spring. | B．Summer. | C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
| A．The disappearance of the ice has negative effects on polar bears. |
| B．Polar bears have to compete with other species for food sources. |
| C．Land animals don’t provide the high fat diet that polar bears need. |
| D．Hungry bear mothers can’t provide their babies with the nutrition needed. |
| A．Why is pack ice becoming smaller? |
| B．What measures can we take to protect polar bears? |
| C．Are polar bears in danger from global warming? |
| D．Is global warming becoming more and more serious? |
10 . In the U. S. state of Washington, a road called Interstate 90 cuts through a wild mountainous area to reach the city of Seattle. For the area's many kinds of animals, the busy highway greatly limits their movements. Animals need to move to find food, to find mates and to find new places to live. Crossing I-90 as the road is called is a risky but sometimes necessary act. But soon, animals will have a safer choice.
To help the animals, the state is finishing work on its largest-ever wildlife bridge. The 11-meter-tall, 20-meter-wide bridge begins in the forest. Workers are adding fencing anti-plants to help guide the animals across the bridge. The I-90 bridge is part of a growing number of wildlife crossings across the United States. Some are fences, some are overland bridges, and some are underpasses. They all aim to keep drivers and animals away from each other.
A U.S. Transportation Department study found crashes between animals and humans rose year by year. The accidents made up about 5 percent of all crashes nationally, and cost the economy about $8 billion. Such costs come from car repaid, emergency room visits and removal of the dead animals on roads. Collisions between animals and drivers are rarely deadly to people. But they are often deadly to wildlife. The study also found that 21 endangered or threatened species in the U.S. are affected by vehicle hits.
Patty Garvey Darda of the U. S. Forest Service says the $6-million bridge will one day pay for itself because the highway will not have to be fully or partly closed each time a large animal is struck. “If you shut down Interstate 90, you shut down interstate trade.” she adds.
1. Why is moving across highways necessary for animals?| A．To survive. |
| B．To find food. |
| C．To follow their habit. |
| D．To free their movements. |
| A．Avoiding human deaths. |
| B．Preventing car accidents. |
| C．Increasing interstate trade. |
| D．Protecting wild animals. |
| A．Highlight the harm caused by car accidents. |
| B．Show the costs related to car-animal crashes. |
| C．Explain the necessity of wildlife crossings. |
| D．Present the urgency to protect wild species. |
| A．Opposed. |
| B．Concerned. |
| C．Favorable. |
| D．Indifferent. |
