1 . The quiet residential street in Glendale, Calif, has become a battleground in California’s annual fight against wildfires, with about 300 goats deployed to combat the threat. These goats are strategically spread across the foothills and steep ridges of the Verdugo Mountains, where they eat dried-out vegetation that flourished after recent rains.
Despite the hot 94°F heat, these goats tirelessly munch on (咀嚼) dead grass, scrubby bushes, cactus, and even invasive plants like star thistle and black mustard. Michael Choi, the owner of Fire Grazers Inc, is amazed at their ability to consume even thorny (带刺的) plants.
Fire Grazers Inc. is a family-owned business that uses goats to clear brush from challenging terrain (地势). This year, the company is busier than ever due to increased demand following a rainy winter that led to more vegetation growth. Choi has extended the grazing season by a couple of months, and he’s added more goats to keep up with the workload, bringing the total to about 900.
The goats clear about 1 acre of vegetation each day. They are transported to various sites, including wealthy areas with challenging terrain, where they help reduce the risk of wildfires. Targeted grazing (放牧), an age-old practice, is important in California’s wildfire risk reduction strategy, especially after years of devastating wildfires.
Patty Mundo, vegetation management inspector for the Glendale Fire Department, said it was local residents who suggested the idea of the goats two years ago. Since then, she’s brought Choi and his goats back for an annual “Bleat and Greet” event, where the community is invited to get to know the fire-fighting heroes. It’s a great way to raise awareness about the importance of proper land management, Mundo said.
Compared to traditional brush crews that rely on power tools and equipment, goats are cost-effective and environmentally friendly. They only require water, minerals and the protection of an Anatolian shepherd dog.
Choi takes pride in contributing to the safety of California’s communities. As the goats graze, he reflects on the potential of these animals to create firebreaks that could save homes and lives, giving firefighters crucial time to respond to emergencies.
1. Why are goats considered effective in fighting wildfires in California?| A．They are cheaper than power tools. |
| B．They can work in high temperatures. |
| C．They can eat various vegetation on tough sites. |
| D．They are better at firefighting than traditional methods. |
| A．Heavy rainfall during the winter. | B．A reduction in the number of goats. |
| C．A decrease in vegetation growth. | D．More and more costly wildfires. |
| A．By supplying water to dry areas. |
| B．By providing temporary shelter for firefighters. |
| C．By starting controlled fires in certain locations. |
| D．By creating firebreaks through vegetation consumption. |
| A．It offers a chance to meet heroic goats. |
| B．It is a festival celebrating goats. |
| C．It is a fundraiser for wildfire victims. |
| D．It shows the cooking uses of goat meat. |
National Tree-Planting Day
March 12th is China’s annual National Tree-Planting Day. On this day, millions of Chinese, from all
First
set in order to inspire people’s passions
China’s Tree-Planting Day could date back to a
In February 1979, the 5th National People’s Congress of People’s Republic of China made
3 . Every year, young, talented, and ambitious nature conservationists from all over the world participate in the presentation of the Future For Nature (FFN) Award, an honorable international award.
The Future For Nature aims to:
• Reward and fund individuals for their outstanding efforts in the protection of species of wildlife.
• Encourage winners to sustain their dedicated work.
·• Help winners to raise their profiles, extend their professional network and strengthen their funding basis.
Benefits
• The winners each receive 50,000 euros and may make their own decision to spend the money in the service of nature conservation.
• FFN offers the winners a platform and brings their stories to the attention of conservationists, financiers and a wide audience, allowing them to increase their impact and gain more access to funds.
• FFN is building a growing family of winners, dedicated people who form a community of people with the same interest. FFN offers them the opportunity to meet each other and continue to learn with each other in order to continue their fight for nature as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Qualifications
The candidate (候选人):
• Must be born on or after the 31st May 1988 and before the 28th of August 2005.
• Is able to explain his/her conservation work in fluent English (written and spoken)
• Has achieved substantial and long-term benefits to the conservation status of one or more animal or plant species.
• Must be determined to continue his/her conservation work, as the Award aims to stimulate the winner’s future work. It is not an “end of career” prize.
Additional Remarks
For the 2024 Future For Future Awards, we are again searching for natural leaders, who have proven that they can make a difference in species’ survival.
From all applications, 6 to 10 nominees (被提名者) will be selected. These applicants will be asked to provide additional information, which will be used to select the final Awardees. Ultimately, three inspiring wildlife heroes are selected as the winners.
Application Process: Apply online through the Apply Now link.
Application Deadline: 28th August, 2023
1. Which is one of the aims of the Future For Nature?| A．To aid more green groups | B．To fund academic education. |
| C．To inspire conservation efforts. | D．To raise environmental awareness. |
| A．consult top specialists | B．meet those who are of the same ambition |
| C．benefit the local community | D．promote self-created platforms |
| A．meet the age requirement | B．apply via mail by the deadline |
| C．turn in the application in English | D．provide additional personal information |
| A．Ways to save water. | B．Schools’ facilities. | C．Cities’ water supply. |
1. What is the relationship between the speakers?
| A．A couple. | B．Classmates. | C．Colleagues. |
| A．Stop using paper cups. |
| B．Prepare boxes for different waste. |
| C．Reduce the use of paper, plastic and cans. |
1. Where did the woman get the information?
| A．From TV. | B．From the Internet. | C．From a magazine. |
| A．How much paper is used by Americans. |
| B．How trees are grown in America. |
| C．How paper is made from trees. |
| A．About 50 million. | B．About 85 million. | C．About 850 million. |
内容包括：
1．海洋的重要性；
2．保护海洋的倡议。
注意：词数100左右。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
What effect would “Truckload of Plastic” have on viewers?| A．Calming. |
| B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. |
| D．Challenging. |
1. 保护野生动物的重要性；
2. 提出合理建议(至少两点)；
3. 发出呼吁。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Protecting the Wild Animals
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . Growing up in Kenya, Lesein Mutunkei, together with his family, always celebrated significant occasions by planting trees, which motivated him to protect the environment. It’s what the now 18-year-old soccer player treasures, especially since Kenya has an ongoing problem with deforestation.
Mutunkei follows in the footsteps of the late Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai who founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977. This initiative has resulted in the planting of over 51 million trees to date.
In 2018, Lesein decided to start a movement of his own. He started by planting one tree for every goal he scored during a football match. He called it Trees4Goals, and it has grown so much that he now plants 11 trees, one for each member of his team, every time he scores. Through this, he wants to inspire young people, specifically his fellow athletes, to follow in his footsteps, take nature conservation seriously, and promise to plant trees every time they score. As a result, some of them have adapted this practice for their sports. “Seeing that they’re taking that responsibility because of the project I started, for me, that is the biggest achievement,” he said.
The initiative has caught the attention of English football club Arsenal and Kenya’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which he now works with regularly and gets advice from.
Like Green Belt Movement, Trees4Goals, which has planted 5,500 trees so far, has made it. While Lesein has received some recognition for his initiative, he sets his sights on making it a worldwide phenomenon. “Football is a universal game, and climate change is a universal problem,” he explains. “It has the power to unite, educate and inspire my generation to create a safer and greener future.” This is why he wants to work with the world’s biggest football federation FIFA.
As for what others can do to fight deforestation or other environmental concerns, the teenager says it’s important to just get involved in some way, no matter how small.
1. What made Lesein get interested in environmental protection?| A．The influence of his family. |
| B．Wangari Maathai’s huge assistances. |
| C．The demand of the football team. |
| D．His fellow athletes’ encouragement. |
| A．To gain Kenya’s support. |
| B．To set an example for others. |
| C．To catch Arsenal’s attention. |
| D．To show his achievements. |
| A．Promoting football’s development. |
| B．Going global with the help of FIFA. |
| C．Beating climate change completely. |
| D．Getting beyond Green Belt Movement. |
| A．Fame is a great thirst of the young. |
| B．A youth is to be regarded with respect. |
| C．Positive thinking and action result in success. |
| D．Success means getting personal desires satisfied. |
