1 . Lithium (锂) is called “white gold” for good reason. The metal’s value has been growing rapidly over the last several years, mainly because it is an essential material of lithium-ion batteries, which play an important part in several key sustainable technologies, e. g. electric cars.
As ocean waves, wind and solar power have grown into major players in the energy industry, lithium has also become key to building a future free of petrol. But getting lithium comes at a huge cost. As with most metals, its mining is damaging. It often works like this: Briny water, containing lithium and other metals, is pumped to the surface from underground. Then it sits in pools to allow the water to evaporate, leaving the rest behind as poisonous matter. Workers use chemical reactions to remove the lithium from that, making it into powder which is then packaged and shipped to the buyers around the world. Any accident that releases mine matter into surrounding communities or the groundwater supply could have damaging long-term impacts.
Indigenous (原住民) communities often bear the result of the damage, and political leaders have paid little attention to their concerns. In Arizona, for example, an expanding lithium mine is threatening the Hualapai Tribe’s historical sites. And for politicians who have promised to work with native peoples to deal with it, mining lithium and other precious metals is putting them into a dilemma: How do you ensure the availability of materials which are essential to the future while protecting indigenous people’ rights?
Mining of the metal is expected to increase greatly in coming years. Over time, that will make electric cars inexpensive and, therefore, more popular.
As environmentally conscious consumers buy electric cars in ever-greater numbers, it’s important to be aware of the dirty process that powers those clean air vehicles.
1. What do we know about Lithium in paragraph 1 and paragraph 2?| A．It’s a kind of battery. | B．It will be widely used in the future. |
| C．Only Lithium can replace fossil fuels. | D．It is the same with wind and solar power. |
| A．It’s easily done. | B．It does harm to the environment. |
| C．It costs much money. | D．The workers benefit a lot from it. |
| A．The shortage of Lithium. |
| B．The prices of electric cars. |
| C．Their people will no longer support them. |
| D．The balance between it and environment protection. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Indifferent. | C．Worried. | D．Optimistic. |
2 . Do you know anyone who plays Ant Forest? It is a game on Alipay. Users collect “energy “ for their “trees” to grow. When their “tree” finishes growing, Alipay will plant a real tree in the desert areas of China.
This is part of China’s efforts to fight desertification . Since 1978, China has planted over 66 billion trees across its dry northern areas, according to China Daily.
Desertification means there are no trees or grass. Water can’t stay in the soil and sand is everywhere.
About 2.6 million square kilometers of China’s land is covered with sand. That’s about 27 percent of the country’s land. It has also caused sandstorms .
By planting new trees, sandstorms in China have been cut by 20 percent in recent years. About 13,000 square kilometers of land have become oases (绿洲).
Ian Teh, a British photographer , traveled through northern China last year. He saw many new oases.
“It was hard to imagine that it was ever a desert,” he told Wired magazine.
1. What is Ant Forest?| A．It is an app that lets people buy things. |
| B．It is a game that can help fight desertification. |
| C．It is a forest for people to grow trees in. |
| D．It is a name for a group of special ants. |
| A．Planted billions of trees. | B．Built houses in dry northern areas. |
| C．Moved all the sand to one place. | D．Built oases around cities. |
| A．2.6 percent | B．27 percent | C．20 percent | D．66 percent |
| A．It was hard to travel in the desert. | B．It was amazing to see new oases there. |
| C．It was still full of sand. | D．It was not easy to find any trees in the north. |
