1 . As my husband and I drove down a country road, we passed a fire station with a sign that read. “Are you ready for the next storm?” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and power off.
We have had our share of storms in the past — a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days weren’t fun, but we learned so much from those early storms. It made later storms easier to bear.
We’re ready for the next storm, but we wouldn’t have learned to do all those things if we hadn’t faced a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big trials coming to us.
Are you ready for the next storm?
| A．Thanks to all those storms. |
| B．They can teach us some valuable lessons. |
| C．Now is the time to get ready. |
| D．How long do you think this storm will last? |
| E．We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world. |
| F．Now we have stored as many necessities as possible in case of potential storms. |
| G．And we don’t forget to buy emergency chocolate! |
2 . Recently, Virgin Atlantic flew a large passenger jet from London to New York using a new kind of aviation (航空) fuel completely.
Airplane travel creates nearly 3% of the world’s greenhouse gases. That makes cutting pollution from flying an important part of the fight against the climate crisis. The reform and upgrading of aviation fuel has become an unavoidable trend. Airlines and plane makers are working hard to figure out ways to make their flights pollute less.
The recent flight was supposed to draw attention to these efforts. For the test flight, the plane only held people from the companies involved, and some reporters. Consequently, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean with its engines powered by 100% “Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)”. Virgin Atlantic says that using SAF cut the flight’s pollution by 70%.
SAF still pollutes when it’s burned, just like regular jet fuel. The difference is in how the fuels are made. SAF is made from plants (and related animal products) that once absorbed carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. When SAF burns, it just releases this same CO2 again. That’s different from jet fuel, which is made from oil pumped from underground, releasing CO2 that was deeply buried. SAF costs five times as much as regular jet fuel. That helps explain why only one-tenth of 1% of the fuel airlines currently use SAF. Virgin Atlantic is hoping its flight will encourage more companies to produce SAF and that this will bring the price down.
Experts say it’s easy to make small amounts of SAF out of plant waste. But to make as much SAF as the airlines really need would require farmers to grow plants for fuel instead of for eating. This could also lead to more forests being cut down for farmland. Besides, there’re relatively few SAF production plants or companies transporting it globally. So some groups argue reducing the number of flights taken is the only way to cut aviation’s environmental impact.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?| A．Explain the first paragraph further. | B．Make a prediction for the readers. |
| C．Add some background information. | D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．It can be easily mass-produced. | B．It can get rid of aviation pollution. |
| C．The demand for it remains limited. | D．Its price will drop sharply very soon. |
| A．Lead to another type of ecological damage. | B．Decrease various flights all over the world. |
| C．Strengthen the awareness of greener travel. | D．Reduce transportation costs of aviation fuel. |
| A．SAF’s Fighting Against Climate Change | B．Crossing Atlantic on 100% Sustainable Fuel |
| C．Virgin Atlantic’s Flying a Large Passenger Jet | D．Developing SAF to Maintain Flight Operations |
3 . Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution to two of her country’s problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers: Rather than throw your empty chip bags into the trash, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.
Chip waters drop off their empty bags from Doritos. Lays. and other favorites at two locations in Detroit:a print shop and a clothing store. where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they clean the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open, lay them flat, and iron them together. They use padding (衬垫) and liners (衬里) from old coats to line the insides.
It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof lightweight and easy to carry around”. Oleita told the Detroit News.
Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 800,000 chip bags and, as of last December, created 110 sleeping bags. Sure, it would be simpler to raise the money to buy new sleeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for Oleita — whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life —and her fellow volunteers. “We are devoted to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally,”she says.
And, of course, there’s the symbolism of rescuing bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental problem and poverty often go hand in hand. As Oleita told hourdetroit.com, “I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues.”
1. What did Oleita ask the snack lovers to do with their empty chip bags?| A．To turn them into sleeping bags. |
| B．To donate them to the homeless directly. |
| C．To throw them into the trash. |
| D．To give them away to her. |
| A．It is convenient. | B．It is only made of old coats. |
| C．It has the function of heating. | D．Its size is adjustable. |
| A．The aim of the project is more than social issues. |
| B．Poverty results from environmental problems. |
| C．Oleita’s project made 110 sleeping bags per month. |
| D．Oleita started the project mainly to raise money. |
| A．Hardworking and loyal. | B．Talented and brave. |
| C．Selfless and modest. | D．Generous and creative. |
4 . Supermarkets, conservationists and farming groups have shown their concerns about pollution of the Wye, one of the UK’s longest rivers. “The pollution pressures upon the Wye are unacceptable and there was strong enthusiasm for cooperative action to resolve the problem.” said Craig Bennett, head of the Wildlife Trusts.
The pollution referred largely to runoff of the nutrient-rich waste matter produced by the 20 million-plus chickens near the river.
Bennett said: “We discussed how, if the Wye were a school or a hospital, we would be calling for it to be placed into ‘special measures’. We agreed the same level of urgency must be applied.”
Increasing concern led the local government to hold a discussion in May, when they promised to publish a plan for the Wye by the autumn. However, the local government’s push on the river was marred in June when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a Wye video showing sea otters (海獺) rather than the river’s local European otters. The pollution of the Wye was not mentioned at all.
In July Bennett hosted a Wye round table in Powys, Wales, bringing together local groups, the Environment Agency, the chicken produce Avara Foodsr, regional branches of the National Farmers Union and local authorities. They agreed on a plan that included cutting the nutrient pollution “through a reduction in animal numbers” and other measures.
Bennett also wrote to Julie James, the Welsh Climate Change Minister, who said, “I share your concern for the health of the River Wye and other Welsh rivers.”
A supermarket chain said they are committed to protecting the river and engaging with their chicken suppliers to tackle water pollution. They have detailed management plans to make sure their suppliers are farming with care for the environment. A government spokesman said: “We are offering a wide range of support to farmers to speed up their transition to more sustainable practices and help protect this important site.”
1. Why does Bennett compare the Wye with a school or a hospital?| A．To call for urgent measures. | B．To stress the impacts of the river. |
| C．To show the importance of the river. | D．To urge people to protect the environment. |
| A．Destroyed. | B．Boosted | C．Perfected. | D．Emphasized. |
| A．Making a careful plan. | B．Reducing animal numbers. |
| C．Arousing people’s awareness. | D．Asking the government for money. |
| A．Sea Otters Are under Attack for Possible Pollution |
| B．Cooperated Efforts Are Made to Protect the Wye |
| C．People Are Having More Environmental Awareness |
| D．More Measures Should Be Taken to Prevent Air Pollution |
内容如下：
1. 写信目的；2. 活动原因；3. 活动建议。
注意：词数80词左右。可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
Dear friends,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With best wishes,
Li Hua
6 . In many ways, life has become far more comfortable and convenient in the past few decades.
Air Pollution
The main cause of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels by vehicles and power plants. Other human activities, such as construction and the burning of waste, also contribute to air pollution. The effects on our health can be very serious.
You can easily contribute to reducing air pollution by only using a car to make journeys when it’s absolutely necessary.
Global Warming
Global warming is the increase in the temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans. It’s caused by the build-up of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the atmosphere. These trap the Sun’s heat and warm up the planet.
Global warming has already caused a wide range of problems.
Overflowing Landfills
Landfills are used for waste disposal (处理) in many countries around the world. However, these landfills are now nearing their limit. When this happens, the chances of dangerous chemicals in the waste entering our water supply increase.
The amount of waste in landfills in China has risen sharply over the last ten years.
| A．If it isn’t, try using public transport instead. |
| B．Sea levels are rising due to the melting of polar ice sheets. |
| C．However, this has come at a huge cost to the environment. |
| D．This resulted in the flooding of the River Po near Turin in Italy. |
| E．For instance, that in Hong Kong is likely to reduce within a few years. |
| F．Thus, the government is now trying to find alternative waste disposal methods. |
| G．Apart from the three Rs, some experts have called for the fourth R—Responsibility. |
7 . Topher White spends so much time walking in the forest and thinking about how quickly we’re losing it. The engineer is determined to stop global deforestation. Founder of the San Francisco-based non-profit Rainforest Connection, White has developed a small but clever strategy: using old cell phones to listen for the sound of destruction.
Forests are disappearing worldwide, and fast：an area about half the size of England is lost each year. The Amazon has lost close to one-fifth of its rainforest cover in the last four decades. Forest loss not only harms wildlife, including many species that live nowhere else, but it’s also a big contributor to the greenhouse gas emission(排放)that cause climate change.
”I didn’t know any of this when I started,“ says White, who began his journey in 2011, when he traveled to Indonesian Borneo to help decreasing gibbons(长臂猿).
Between 50 and 90 percent of the logging that happens in the world’s rainforests is illegal, according to White, yet detecting chainsaws(电锯)and other sounds related to that activity can be tough, because the air is already filled with the loud unpleasant mixture of sounds from nature. So he has developed a system in which he installs a cell phone that stays charged by solar cells, attaches an extra microphone, and listens. From there, the device can detect the sounds of chainsaws nearly a mile away.
Because it’s unfeasible to have people listening to the devices all the time, he added some “old-school data analysis”, so that the cell phone’s computers can distinguish a chainsaw’s sound from others in the forest. This way, his device can automatically detect logging activity and send a text alert to authorities who can determine if it’s illegal and then stop it.
White notes that he’s not alone in the fight: Many people and organizations are working tirelessly to stop forests from disappearing. For instance, local groups are particularly active in forest conservation efforts, White says.
So far, his monitoring devices have been used in Cameroon, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil and will soon be used in Bolivia. It’s not just about listening for logging. The same technology that can pick out the buzz of a chainsaw can pick out the sounds of specific birds, which is why Whtie sees the forest recordings as a potential science tool. He’s urging biologists and ecologists to use his monitoring system anywhere, whether it’s a remote forest or a park in London. “The more we learn about these places,” he says, “the easier it’ll be to protect them.”
1. The second paragraph is mainly about .| A．the measures to prevent forest loss |
| B．the causes and effects of forest loss |
| C．the areas that suffer great forest loss |
| D．the urgency about reducing forest loss |
| A．Impractical. | B．Unnecessary. | C．Possible. | D．Significant. |
| A．our advanced technology | B．our strong teamwork spirit |
| C．our good understanding of it | D．our environmental awareness |
| A．Efforts should be taken to preserve nature |
| B．Your old cell phone can help save the rainforest |
| C．Old cell phones can be used for helping gibbons |
| D．A creative way is being used to protect specific birds |
内容包括：
1. 活动目的；
2. 活动安排；
注意：
1. 词数不少于80词；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Notice
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Students’ Union
9 . Kabita Lohar lives in Pipriya village, a community located at the banks of the Mahakali River in Nepal. She is usually seen walking along the riverbank, carrying a blue box which contains equipment and chemicals to test the quality of water in the river. As Kabita carefully collects water samples (样本) from the river into her test-tube and observe the color of the water, she says, “Our rivers are getting polluted; we need to raise awareness and encourage the community to save our rivers.”
Kabita is one of the many citizen scientists trained by Oxfam. Around five years ago, Oxfam started working with the communities living in the riverbanks of the Mahakali River through a project called Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA). The project aims to give the riverside communities more access to and control over water resources. “We use this data to encourage effective measures and raise awareness about water pollution among the community members and local government,” says Kabita.
People used to believe that the water in at the Mahakali River contains something that is good for health, so it was a common practice to drink water directly from the river. But with the data on water pollution provided by citizen scientists like Kabita, they could raise awareness of the importance of not drinking water directly from the river.
Kabita says, “A few months ago, we spoke with our mayor (市长) about introducing measures to prevent the inflow of waste made by families and hotels into the river. Our mayor has stated that he will meet our demands. But we don’t just want promises; we want action, and we will keep following up until the promise becomes a reality.”
1. Why does Kabita walk along the bank?| A．To clean the riverbanks. | B．To collect experimental data. |
| C．To enjoy nature for relaxation. | D．To collect water from family use. |
| A．By showing them the truth. |
| B．By finding clean water for them. |
| C．By encouraging effective measures. |
| D．By stopping pouring waste into the river. |
| A．Energetic. | B．Confident. | C．Organized. | D．Determined. |
| A．Water pollution is serious in Nepal. |
| B．Science is helpful in reducing pollution. |
| C．A citizen scientist fights water pollution. |
| D．A youth makes a difference to her village. |
10 . Insect numbers have plunged (骤降) by half in some parts of the world due to climate change and intensive agriculture, a study has found. The combined pressures of global heating and farming are driving a “substantial decline” of insects across the globe, according to UK researchers. They say we must acknowledge the threats we pose to insects, before some species are lost forever. But preserving habitat for nature could help ensure vital insects thrive.
Lead researcher, Dr Charlie Outhwaite of UCL, said losing insect populations could be harmful not only to the natural environment, but to “human health and food security, particularly with losses of pollinators(传粉昆虫)”. “Our findings highlight the urgency of actions to preserve natural habitats, slow the expansion of high-intensity agriculture, and cut emissions to mitigate climate change,” she added.
Plummeting populations of insects around the world — a so-called “insect apocalypse” — have caused widespread concern. However, scientific data gives a mixed picture, with some types of insects showing sharp declines, while others are staying steady. In the latest study, the researchers pulled together data on the range and number of nearly 20,000 insect species, including bees, ants, butterflies, grasshoppers and dragonflies, at about 6,000 different locations. In areas with high-intensity agriculture and substantial warming, insect numbers have plunged by 49% and the number of different species by 27%, compared with relatively untouched places that have so far avoided the most severe impacts of climate change, according to the research published in Nature.
But the researchers said there was some cause for hope in that setting aside areas of land for nature created a shelter for insects, which need shade to survive in hot weather. “Careful management of agricultural areas, such as preserving natural habitats near farmland, may help to ensure that vital insects can still thrive,” said Dr. Tim Newbold, also of UCL.
Study researcher, Peter MeCann, added: “We need to acknowledge how important insects are for the environment as a whole, and for human health and wellbeing, in order to address the threats we pose to them before many species are lost forever.”
1. What caused the number of insects to decrease quickly?| A．The natural law of survival of the fittest. | B．Improvement of human environment. |
| C．Global heating and farming. | D．Destruction of the food chain of insects. |
| A．release | B．stop | C．relieve | D．prevent |
| A．Not all types of insects show decline in numbers. |
| B．The number of insects in untouched places shows the most severe decline. |
| C．There is no need to set aside areas of land for nature. |
| D．Careful management of agriculture areas can help all the insects thrive. |
| A．To stress the effect of global warming. |
| B．To arouse people’s concern for the decline of insect numbers. |
| C．To show the relationship between insects and human beings. |
| D．To present the process of the research. |
