1 . Soil creates life from death. The production of more than 95% of the food we eat relies on soil. But this precious resource is eroding (侵蚀) at a global average of 13.5 tons per hectare per year. Instead of nourishing crops, fertile topsoil is washed and blown away, ending up in inconvenient places such as ditches and oceans.
Jo Handelsman and Kayla Cohen try to make readers care about soil in A World Without Soil. Their prologue (前言) takes the form of a letter to the government. With the letter, they hope to make soil management a federal priority. The following chapters cover the basic science of soil as well as the causes and consequences of its erosion. In the last part of the book, the authors turn to possible solutions—many of them simple, and some centuries old. They describe about traditional soil management techniques, including planting diverse crops in rotation (轮种), increasing organic content, ploughing as little as possible, etc. With these techniques, farmers are able to produce rich agricultural production while maintaining deep banks of fertile soil.
Why, then, is fertile soil being allowed to be washed and blown away? The answer, not surprisingly, rests in global capitalism. Farmers' profit is thin, forcing farmers to plant the highest-profit crop from field to field every season. To ensure food security, Handelsman and Cohen urge the world to demand a real top-down change in how agricultural production is managed. "The burden of protecting soil cannot be shifted to farmers and environmental activists," they note. Governments must begin to move towards a model in which farmers are less independent business people growing and selling food, and more government-supported land workers managing both food production and soil protection. This should be the core of agriculture.
Our land and soil are too precious to be destroyed by the market price of crops. We must invest deeply and thoughtfully in our farmers so that they can invest deeply and thoughtfully in the land. This is the future of farming.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The gradual process of losing soil. |
| B．The worrying situation of soil erosion. |
| C．The alarming decrease of food output. |
| D．The great significance of soil protection. |
| A．It targets federal officials as its main readers. |
| B．It puts forward some practical solutions to soil loss. |
| C．It advocates changing traditional farming techniques. |
| D．It blames governments for not taking care of farmlands. |
| A．Invest in the most profitable crops. |
| B．Grow and sell food all by themselves. |
| C．Shoulder the burden of protecting soil. |
| D．Work the land with government support. |
| A．A Call to Save Soil | B．Tips to Reshape Agriculture |
| C．Ways to Enrich Farmland | D．An Appeal to Guarantee Food Supply |
1. Why does the woman plan to wear a mask tomorrow?
| A．Because of the smog. |
| B．Because of her illness. |
| C．Because of the cold weather. |
| A．The heavy traffic. |
| B．The air pollution. |
| C．The large population. |
| A．Change their ways to go to work. |
| B．Ask the government to do something. |
| C．Call on people to protect the environment. |
| A．He always uses the public transport. |
| B．He seldom listens to the weather report. |
| C．He is waiting for the weather to improve soon. |
In order to save this species from
1. 垃圾分类的意义和开展；
2. 你的看法。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 开头已给出，不计入总词数；
3. 适当增加细节以使行文连贯。
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.询问受灾情况，表示关心；
2.鼓励他振作起来，重建家园。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：山火 mountain fire
Dear Bill,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
6 . The newly-elected president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says that his country should withdraw (退出) from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing in the way of economic success. During the election campaign, he promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native people and wildlife. Are Brazil’s rainforests in danger?
The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is called “the lungs of the planet.” Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots and release water vapor into the air, forming tiny drops of water. The Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist, says that it is almost impossible to say Just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.
Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups. One supporter, Luiz Carlos, noted that farmers “are not invaders, they are producers.” He blamed the past government for supporting rainforest protections at the cost of farmers. “Brazil,” he said, “will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years.”
Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo, says that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”
Other scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland.
1. The first paragraph is intended to ________.| A．draw people’s attention to the disappearing rainforests |
| B．ask people to ease the protection of rainforests |
| C．attract the public to the newly-elected president |
| D．to complain about the new government's withdrawing |
| A．produce much farmland |
| B．examine people’s lungs |
| C．change the earth’s living system |
| D．destroy farmers’ crops |
| A．The new president’s supporters care less about farmers. |
| B．Scientists are concerned about the protection of rainforests. |
| C．The rainforests will stop the economic development in Brazil. |
| D．The past government is to blame for the destruction of rainforests |
| A．a newspaper |
| B．a magazine |
| C．a guidebook |
| D．a textbook |
7 . Zea Tongeman, a 14-year-old student, who is crazy about the Internet, applied technology to create an application that encourages people to recycle while having fun.
Zea was really inspired when she attended “Little Miss Geek Day”, an event that aims at making technology more accessible and appealing to young women and inspiring them to consider technology careers. Soon after, she entered “Apps for Good”, a competition that encourages students to create positive change through technology. Teaming up with her friend, Jordan Stirbu, she laid the foundations for “Jazzy Recycling”.
The “Jazzy Recycling” application is designed to encourage young people to recycle more, which wins the favor of the youth. It turns waste disposal into a game and helps you find places to recycle. Then you scan what you need to recycle, share it, and get rewards such as shopping vouchers (代金券) and games to be unlocked for what you have recycled.
Tapping into the teen enthusiasm for sharing every little aspect of their daily life on social media like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, recycling efforts can be shared too as a fun game among friends, which makes more people take part in recycling activities.
Zea explains why she is addicted to the Internet and how technology has changed her ideas about the future, “I used to think technology was just fixing computers and using smartphones; I have become very tired from just using what is available. I have discovered another side to it and that I can make technology of my own.”
In fact, Zea Tongeman has taken the idea of recycling seriously and hopes all her fellow beings would give it a serious thought. This teen girl from the United Kingdom has made use of computer programming to create her own app that would encourage people to go recycling for a better world.
1. What is “Little Miss Geek Day” intended to do?| A．To inspire students to go recycling. | B．To encourage students to create more. |
| C．To introduce some famous young ladies. | D．To get girls interested and involved in technology. |
| A．It combines recycling with fun. | B．It offers money to those who recycle. |
| C．It raises their awareness of waste disposal. | D．It provides varieties of convenient services. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Generous. | C．Creative. | D．Modest. |
| A．Teenagers have a talent for creating apps. |
| B．Technology plays a significant role in education. |
| C．Competitions inspire teenagers to achieve success. |
| D．Youngsters can make a difference in their own ways. |
1. Why does the woman plan to wear a mask tomorrow?
| A．Because of the smog. |
| B．Because of her illness. |
| C．Because of the cold weather. |
| A．The heavy traffic. |
| B．The air pollution. |
| C．The large population. |
| A．Change their ways to go to work. |
| B．Ask the government to do something. |
| C．Call on people to protect the environment. |
| A．He always uses the public transport. |
| B．He seldom listens to the weather report. |
| C．He is waiting for the weather to improve soon. |
9 . More and more birds are flying to settle at Qinghai Lake, one of the highest inland lakes in China, thanks to the protection efforts of local governments. Covering an area of over 4,000 square kilometers. Qinghai Lake is also the country's biggest saltwater lake. Located in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the lake is famous for the two islands at its northwest point--Cormorant Island and Egg Island. The two islands have plenty of floating grass and various schools of fish, offering rich food sources for birds. The islands have become a paradise(天堂) for different kinds of groups of birds and have been called"Bird Islands".
Each March and April, when ice and snow covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau starts to melt, over 20 kinds of birds fly to the Bird Islands to lay eggs. During the months, flocks of birds cover the whole sky over the islands and birds eggs can be found everywhere. Visitors can hear the singing of birds from miles away. These have become a world famous symbol of the lake.
To protect this paradise for birds and support calls for ecological protection, China set up the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone at the end of 1997. Meanwhile, the State has pointed out the Bird Islands and Spring bay of the Qinghai Lake as central protection zones.
Inspection(视察) officials and management employees often patrol（巡逻） the lake, improving local residents' knowledge of related laws and spreading knowledge about animal protection to visitors. They are making great efforts to call on people to love and protect the birds. At the same time, they have built special fences around the island area to prevent wolves, foxes and other carnivorous(食肉的) animals, as well as illegal hunters from breaking up the birds’nest building,egglaying and breeding. As a result, more and more birds are coming to the islands for sheltering and breeding.
1. Why are more and more birds coming to the biggest salt-water lake in the Great Northwest?| A．Because it is getting warmer and warmer. |
| B．Because it is being reformed. |
| C．Because environments there are getting more and more agreeable for them to live in. |
| D．Because the people there are becoming richer and richer. |
| A．floating fish and various grass. |
| B．grass moving on the water surface and different kinds of fish. |
| C．salt water and plenty of grains. |
| D．corn from the local farmers. |
| A．The ice and snow covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau doesn't change into water. |
| B．Flocks of birds fly up to the whole sky over islands to lay eggs. |
| C．Visitors can listen to the singing of birds from miles away, but they couldn't see any bird. |
| D．"The ice on the Plateau begins to change into water" means spring is coming. |
| A．let the farmers there know the animal protection law. |
| B．tell the farmers there some knowledge about animal protection. |
| C．call on people to love and protect the bird. |
| D．all of the above. |
10 . Nashville-based helicopter pilot Joel Boyers had just finished his job on Saturday morning and was heading home when he received a call for help from a woman in Pennsylvania. Her brother Johnson’s home in Waverly, Tennessee, was underwater and he was trapped on a roof with his daughters. Could Boyers help?“I thought how I would feel if I told her I was not even going to try?” he said in a Thursday interview. “She just so happened to call the right person, because I’m the only person crazy enough to even try to do that.”
The weather was terrible and Boyers had to deal with hills and power lines on the way to Waverly, a small city about 60 miles west of Nashville. Just before reaching the town, he found the Internet was down, making it impossible to locate the house he was looking for. He flew on anyway.
“When I arrived, it was nothing but raging water below me,” he said. A few people were out in boats, rescuing the trapped. Boyers was alone in the sky. He started flying up and down the flooded area, grabbing anyone he could.
Boyers said he ended up rescuing 17 people that day. He was proud of that, but said he was the one who should be thanking them. “I literally prayed just days before this that I would be given some meaning in my life, and then I end up getting this call,” he said. He had flown over disasters before including floods, but “The police are usually there, and my hands are tied. This time there isn’t any,” he said.
To perform the rescues, Boyers had to carefully avoid power lines, balance his skids (打滑) on sloped rooftops, and fly over flood waters. It took all the skills learned over 16 years of flying, including for a television news station, for documentaries and for country music stars. “I don’t want to lie,” he said. “It was almost a little fun for me.”
1. Why did Boyers fly to Waverly？| A．Because he had to do his routine tasks. |
| B．Because his brother was caught in the flood. |
| C．Because he was going to have an interview. |
| D．Because he received an emergency call. |
| A．A long distance. | B．The Internet failure. |
| C．High mountains. | D．Fallen power lines. |
| A．Caring and courageous. | B．Ambitious and demanding. |
| C．Modest and creative. | D．Humorous and cooperative. |
| A．Surviving a Crisis | B．Performing a Task |
| C．Braving a Flood | D．Testing Flight Skills |
