1 . Far, far below your feet lies a source of nearly endless energy. Earth's core is about as hot as the surface of the Sun, so hot that it melts the rocky layers above it into magma, or liquid rock. Wouldn't it be great if we could tap into all that energy? In some places, we do!
The Geysers is an area north of San Francisco in California where magma's heat turns a reservoir of underground water into steam. This region is home to 18 geothermal power plants. The steam rises up through spaces between the rocks underground, a bit like how steam pours from a teakettle boiling on a stove. The power plant has pipelines that send the steam into the turbines (涡轮机) where electricity flow is generated. Once the steam leaves the turbine, it goes into a cooling tower where it turns back into liquid. Then it's piped back into the reservoir to be reheated again. Other kinds of geothermal power plants pump hot groundwater into the power plant. Then the pressure is reduced, causing the liquid to flash into steam that turns the turbine and generates electricity flow. Once the steam cools and turns back into liquid, it's pumped back down into the reservoir to begin the cycle again.
So why don't we all heat our homes with free steam from the earth? First, the heat has to be close enough to the surface for us to reach it. Next, there has to be plenty of underground water to be heated. Finally, there has to be a layer of rock that water or steam can flow through. So in places where all three of those things come together, geothermal energy can be a powerful renewable energy source. Besides, when a geothermal plant returns water back into the hot rocks of a reservoir, it makes the rock crack a bit, which can cause small earthquakes. There's another danger that comes with drilling near magma-pipes and other equipment might melt if they hit a pocket of magma or are caught in an eruption. One geothermal plant in Hawaii was partially buried by lava in 2018. But engineers are hopeful that the repaired plant will generate even more power. Geothermal energy isn't the answer for everywhere, but it's a piece of the puzzle to help slow climate change.
1. In which part of power plants is the electricity made?| A．The turbine. | B．The reservoir. | C．The pipeline. | D．The tower. |
| A．Hard surface and possible earthquakes. |
| B．Changeable climate and unqualified equipment. |
| C．Limited underground water and thin layers of rock. |
| D．Unsuitable geological conditions and potential dangers. |
| A．To demonstrate the great effort that engineers made. |
| B．To show the power that the repaired plant can generate. |
| C．To illustrate the danger caused by drilling near magma. |
| D．To praise the engineers who repaired the generate plant. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Unclear. | C．Doubtful. | D．Approving. |
2 . Over the last two days, much of Spain has been coated with dust (灰尘) , and the skies have turned bright orange. A huge cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert is causing the strange weather. The dust cloud is expected to spread to other parts of Europe.
Across much of Spain on Tuesday morning, a thin layer (层) of red dust coated everything outside. From streets to sidewalks to balconies, everything was covered with a layer of dust. As the sun rose, the dust in the air turned the skies in some cities a strange orange. The cause of the dust and unusual sky colour wasn’t a forest fire, but dust from the Sahara Desert.
Every year, a large cloud of dust rises from the Sahara Desert. It’s called the Saharan Air Layer. Usually, it crosses the Atlantic Ocean as part of a natural cycle that helps develop farmland and beaches in Central and South America.
But sometimes, depending on the weather, the layer of dust gets forced to the north. Large sandstorms in northern Africa lift sand and dust into the air, where it gets blown towards Spain. Though the particles (微粒) in the air come from sand, they’re much more like dust than sand at a beach.
These kinds of storms aren’t unknown in Spain. In fact, it has a special name. It’s called a “calima”. This calima is so large that it can be seen from space. A NASA scientist who studies weather in the atmosphere says it’s like a river of dust in the air. That river of dust has met with a river of wet air driven by strong winds.
Spain’s weather service described the dust storm as being “very intense (强烈) ”. At one point on Tuesday, the air quality in Madrid was the worst in the world. Government health experts warned people not to go outside without a mask, and to keep their windows and doors closed at home.
1. What turned Spain’s skies orange?| A．A huge cloud. | B．Pollutant from Europe. |
| C．Dust from Sahara. | D．Heavy rainfall. |
| A．It’s helpful for farming. | B．It hits Spain every year. |
| C．It’s from South America. | D．It leads to forest fires. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Unbelievable. | C．Common. | D．Useful. |
| A．Travel. | B．Nature. | C．Science. | D．Health. |
3 . In the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are common.
It was reported that a man was struck by lightning when he was making a phone call under a tree. He died at once. You may not know it, but nearly 1,800 thunderstorms are happening at any moment around the world.
If you are indoors during a thunderstorm:
*Stay away from anything that is metal because lightning can come into the house through it.
*Don’t stand near the windows.
*Don’t take a shower or bath. Lightning can travel through water.
* Never use the phone.
If you are caught in a thunderstorm outdoors:
*
*Do not go under a tree because the lightning could hit the tree and travel through the tree to hit you.
* Never use a cell phone.
| A．Try to get home as soon as possible. |
| B．Go into a nearby building or car right away. |
| C．But it is very important for us to learn about lightning. |
| D．In fact, many people are killed by lightning every year. |
| E．Lightning could travel through the phone line and hit you. |
| F．Since they happen often, some people don’t take them seriously. |
| G．But you can reduce those chances by following these safety rules. |
4 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?| A．They made her decide to leave the country. |
| B．They helped her better understand her father. |
| C．They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
| D．They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Cold weather. | D．Forest damage. |
| A．To create job opportunities for young people. |
| B．To help the children obtain a basic education. |
| C．To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
| D．To promote the protection of their farmland. |
| A．Saving Water in Tunisia | B．Holding back the Sahara |
| C．Planting Trees of Native Species | D．Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
5 . Levi Draheim, 11 years old, and 20 other young people have accused(控告)the us encouraging the climate change. For more than a century, human activities have been increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That has caused a host of effects globally, from changes in weather to ice melting at the poles.
Levi lives in Satellite Beach,Fla. He once had to leave his home because of strong storms. He rains flooded the town’s streets. And he had trouble breathing during red tides, which can develop wt harmful ocean algae(海藻)grow out of control.
Climate change is making these events more frequent. Levi and his family also have another climate-change-related problem. Sea level is rising. “If climate change worsens, the island that I live or will be gone,” he explained.
The young people say the US government allowed the use of fossil fuels(矿物燃料). Burning those fuels gives off greenhouse gases, driving climate change. The youths want the government to solve the problem of pollution. So they took the government to court in 2015.
The case has had several hold-ups. In the beginning, the government asked the trial court(初审法庭) to refuse to accept the case. The court didn’t do that. Then they turned to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That court said the case could go ahead, and the Supreme Court agreed. Both sides did work to get ready for trial. But the government again tried to get the case thrown out without a trial.
Finally, trial was set to start on October 29, 2018. But on October 19; the US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts told the trial court to hold up. The youths’ lawyers objected. On November 2, the Supreme Court finally agreed that the trial could go forward. Right now, it is hard to say when that what happen.
1. What does the underlined word “That” in Paragraph 1 refers to?| A．The increasing amount of greenhouse gases. |
| B．The time of human activities. |
| C．Harmful ocean algae. |
| D．Climate change. |
| A．makes his family poorer |
| B．is less valued by common people. |
| C．will force his family to move again |
| D．is the direct cause of his sufferings in life. |
| A．should provide people with places to live during storms. |
| B．encourages human activities driving climate change. |
| C．should stop the growth of the harmful ocean algae. |
| D．fails to improve people’s living conditions. |
6 . A NASA-led international mission launched a radar (雷达) satellite from southern California. The satellite will be involved in a major project to research the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers.
The satellite is called SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography. It is designed to give scientists a never-before-seen view of the Earth’s water, which covers about 70 percent of the planet.
About the size of a car, the satellite uses advanced microwave radar technology to collect detailed height and surface measurements of all bodies of water. The data will provide researchers with more information on the effects of climate change.
Data will be taken from radar readings of the planet at least two times every 21 days. The information will help study ocean currents, predict the weather, and control freshwater supplies in areas with little rain.
One major goal of the mission is to research how oceans absorb atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) — the natural process that slows down temperatures and climate change.
SWOT is designed to measure small differences in surface heights around smaller currents, where much of the oceans’ reduction of heat and carbon is believed to happen. And SWOT can do so with 10 times more accurate (精确的) details than existing technologies.
The world’s oceans are estimated (估计) to have absorbed more than 90 percent of the extra heat trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Studying how that happens will help climate scientists answer an important question: What is the turning point at which oceans start giving off, rather than absorbing, huge amounts of heat back into the atmosphere?
The satellite will also be used to study the effects of rising ocean levels. And it will be able to measure all rivers wider than 100 meters, as well as more than 1 million lakes and bodies of water larger than 6.25 hectares.
1. What will the data of the satellite help researchers do?| A．Study the movement of fish. | B．Increase freshwater supplies. |
| C．Better learn about global warming. | D．Count the number of sea creatures. |
| A．Its accuracy. | B．Its size. | C．Its speed. | D．Its purpose. |
| A．Ocean levels start to change. | B．The sea starts to give off heat. |
| C．Oceans will absorb extra heat. | D．Greenhouse gas will increase. |
| A．Exploring Oceans’ Effects On Climate | B．Space Technology Used To Study The Earth |
| C．Finding Out The Systems Of Water On The Earth | D．Studying The Water Around The World From Space |
7 . Space is where our future is — trips to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Most people would think that apart from comets (彗星) and stars, there is little else out there.
The first piece of space junk was created in the year of 1964, when the American satellite Vanguard I stopped operating.
The major problem with the space trash is that it may hit working satellites and damage travelling spaceship. In addition to this, many pieces of junk may crash with each other and break into pieces which fall back to the Earth.
| A．It lost its connection with the ground centre. |
| B．To avoid this, scientists have invented several ways for clearing the sky. |
| C．The junk floats slowly around the Earth. |
| D．However, since our space journey started, we have left much trash in space. |
| E．It is said that there are now over 500,000 pieces of man-made trash orbiting the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour. |
| F．Future plans include a cooperative effort among many nations. |
| G．It hasn’t resulted in any serious problems up to now. |
1. Lead：演练的目的、参加者、时间及地点;
2. Body：演练的经过、效果;
3. Ending：以quote的形式述同学们的感受。
注意：
1. 词数100左右;
2. 标题已给出，不计入总词数;
3. 要求在作文中使用至少一个定语从句。
An earthquake emergency evacuation drill
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1. What are the speakers talking about?
| A．Environment protection. | B．Public transportation. | C．A birthday party. |
| A．By bus. | B．By car. | C．By bike. |
10 . It’s been given the title “Asia’s water tower”: Sanjiangyuan, meaning “the source of three rivers”, is an area in Qinghai. It is the source of the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Lancang River.
The three rivers provide water for as many as 600 million people, or almost half the population of China. And yet, because of its weak ecosystem (生态系统) and human activities, the environment in Sanjiangyuan is becoming worse, putting the country’s water source at risk.
This is why China built its very first national park, the Sanjiangyuan National Park, to protect the sources in 2020. The park will also increase the area’s green coverage and become the home of many wildlife species.
Long before the decision to build the park was made, however, volunteers across the country had already started their own effort to protect Sanjiangyuan.
Take Ren Shihai for example, a 38-year-old volunteer from Beijing. Ren is a member of the Shan Shui Conservation Center, focusing on environmental protection in the Sanjiangyuan area. He joined a team of volunteers who taught at the No 2 Middle School in Zaduo county, in Qinghai’s Yushu. He said he got a feeling of happiness when students were very excited when he spoke about the rivers and mountains in Sanjiangyuan and why it was important to protect them.
Zhaxi Bading, a 13-year-old Tibetan student, said he learned something new in Ren’s class. “I know the rivers that run through my hometown but I didn’t know their effects on the environment of the lower reaches,” he said. “I’m proud that my hometown is beautiful, and I want to protect it.”
Now under the protection of our country, hopefully “Asia’s water tower” will still have that name for years to come.
1. What problem is Sanjiangyuan facing now?| A．Less wildlife. | B．Worsening environment. |
| C．More visits. | D．Not enough water. |
| A．To protect the water sources. |
| B．To study the wildlife in the area. |
| C．To enlarge the area of green coverage. |
| D．To increase the number of wildlife species. |
| A．By advising the government to build a national park. |
| B．By keeping the rivers and mountains in the area natural. |
| C．By collecting enough money to feed its wild animals. |
| D．By raising local children’s awareness of protecting it. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Positive. | D．Worried. |
