1 . Vast lands of America are dominated by corn, nearly 100macres of it, stretching from Ohio to the Dakotas. What once was forest today produces the corn that feeds people, cattle and, when made into ethanol (乙醇), cars.

Now, the nation’s airlines want to power their planes with corn, too. United Airlines signed a deal with a Nebraska ethanol company to buy enough sustainable fuel, to power 50,000 flights a year. The government could decide on its tax incentives (税收激励) for the industry as soon as December. “Mark my words, the next 20 years, corn farmers are going to provide 95% of all the sustainable airline fuel,” President Biden said in July.

The airlines’ ambitious goal would likely require nearly doubling ethanol production, which airlines say, with great expectation, would decrease their greenhouse gas emissions. If they succeed, it could transform America’s Corn Belt, stimulating farmers and ethanol producers, but potentially further damaging one of the nation’s most important resources: groundwater.

Corn requires a lot of water to grow and it can take hundreds of gallons to produce a single gallon of ethanol. But as airlines take the idea of ethanol, the vital groundwater faces serious risks. “We’re on track to massively increase water usage without any real sense of how sensitive our groundwater is,” said Jeffrey Broberg, who is concerned about groundwater in Minnesota, a major corn state.

The Department of Energy said in a statement that “water use is a critical part of the conversation surrounding bio-energy sustainability”. It pointed to a 2022 department study that concluded that the United States could significantly reduce pressure on groundwater by shifting fuel production away from water-intensive crops like corn, instead growing more crops that don’t require irrigation (灌溉), like various types of straw, grasses and trees. Hopefully, a better approach will be soon studied and adopted.

1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?

A．Farmers will increase 95% of their ethanol production.

B．The sustainable fuel will not be popular in the future.

C．Corn will be an influential source in the fuel industry.

D．The government stops the new fuel for the groundwater.

2. What does the underlined word “stimulating” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Preventing.

B．Motivating.

C．Destroying.

D．Impressing.

3. What is the potential risk of the increased use of ethanol in fuel?

A．The shortage of corn production.

B．The increase in global warming.

C．A rise in clean-energy tax credits.

D．Higher stress on the groundwater.

4. What did the 2022 study suggest according to the last paragraph?

A．Expand the corn planting area.

B．Use some alternative materials.

C．Cut down the daily water usage.

D．Turn to the government for help.

2 . As an ordinary man, I have a special habit to confess. Whenever I walk down the street, I offer to pour a bottle of water from the nearby river into the dirt of a street tree. It’s just my personal habit, and I think it doesn’t make a difference, but I’d like to do it. I mention this in light of a campaign launched by the Arboricultural Association to call on the public to water new street trees.

The UK government has committed to planting millions of trees to help meet climate targets and aims to increase tree cover from 14.5% to 16.5% by 2050. However, as John Parker, chief executive of the Arboricultural Association, says, “Planting a tree is just the start of the story. The health and survival of new urban trees is threatened by increasingly dry weather. It is recommended that the newly planted trees be given about 50 litres of water per week for the first three years.” While in rural settings, the newly planted trees and woods can take care of themselves and adapt, the challenging conditions mean trees in the urban areas need a bit more care.

Long ago, I assumed that the good of street trees was to soften the hard edges of urban environments. But, what an underestimation of tree power that was! A study from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities illustrates they can provide inspiration or a calming atmosphere in an otherwise crowded city. Trees are responsible for easing urban heat island effects and air and pollutant filtration. And I think they provide the habitat for wildlife, especially birds.

Trees can’t run away. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for urban residents, city trees are stuck with us. If we want to continue enjoying all the good they do, we should try to understand their needs and do all that we can to support them. A bottle of water won’t do much, but next time you all together have a bucket of water to pour, you know what big effect will happen.

1. What does the author think of his personal habit?

A．It is of little effect.	B．It is enforced.
C．It is of much significance.	D．It is common.

2. What does John Parker say about urban trees?

A．They have started to be watered regularly.

B．More work needs to be done for their living.

C．They are threatened by the increasing flood.

D．The newly planted ones can’t look after themselves.

3. What can we learn about street trees from paragraph 3?

A．Their usage is overrated.

B．Their value is thought highly of by the public.

C．They benefit residents physically and mentally.

D．They can thoroughly solve environmental problems.

4. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A．When in need, ask for it.	B．Tall trees catch much wind.
C．Many hands make light work.	D．Misfortunes seldom come alone.

3 . Janet, now 37, was playing with her new pet dog, Stitch, who jumped up, grabbed her sleeve, and tore several holes in her sweater with its sharp teeth. Instead of throwing the sweater away, Janet decided to repair it.

She turned to “visible repairing,” an idea of repairing clothes that leaves an obvious fix. She added bright flowers and other small designs to damaged clothes. “Every time you do a repair, it’s like having bought a new piece of clothes,” says Janet.

Actually, repairing is a great opportunity to realize the urgent (迫切的) need to reduce waste. Sadly, we have become used to replacing things instead of repairing them — and the rubbish is piling up. Worldwide, we throw away 92 million tons of cloth every year. Electronic waste is another growing problem: About 50 million tons of it is created each year around the world.

The good news is that fixing things can help deal with the waste problem. There are some solutions. Due to information online, the popular how-to site iFixit.com , a database (数据库) with nearly 100,000 repair brochures for everything from electronics to clothing, has promoted more than 100 million repairs. In addition, since the first Repair Café opened in2009 in Amsterdam, more than 2,700 cafés have been set up to offer in-person fix-it help in various countries. Organizers set up events, and volunteers with repair knowledge bring their tools. They will try to fix whatever people bring in, for free, and teach visitors how to do repairs themselves.

Fixing things is part of a larger change toward a circular economy —the idea that instead of throwing away things once they are broken or out of date, we reuse or repair them, keeping them out of the landfill (垃圾填埋场) for as long as possible. According to a 2023 report from Circle Economy, a Netherlands-based NGO, if the world changed to a circular economy, we could lower the amount of waste by a third.

1. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Janet?

A．To praise her way of protecting pets.

B．To introduce special clothing designs.

C．To call for attention to repairing things.

D．To market the products of fixed clothes.

2. What can we learn from the numbers in paragraph 3?

A．The action of replacing things is wise.

B．The behaviour of repairing things is popular.

C．The need for reducing clothes is urgent.

D．The problem of producing waste is serious.

3. How do people deal with the waste problem according to paragraph 4?

A．By teaching volunteers repair knowledge.

B．By sharing tips on opening repair cafés.

C．By providing information to the repair database.

D．By offering online and off line help to encourage repairs.

4. Which of the following behaviours contributes to the circular economy?

A．Jim threw away a used bike.	B．Jackson mended a torn sofa.
C．Sue replaced a worn carpet.	D．Windy removed a broken vase.

4 . A British architecture company has shown that it plans to build a luxury (奢华的) floating island resort made of recycled ocean plastic at a remote location in the Indian Ocean.

Margot Krasojević, the founder of Margot Krasojević Architecture, said that the 75-room hotel concept has funding to be built, but she did not say the source of funding. The hotel will be built on top of a “floating island” situated in Australia’s Cocos archipelago—a chain of islands situated 2,750 kilometers northwest of Perth, Western Australia.

Inspired by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the “Trash Island” under the resort will be woven (编织) from large plastic-filled bags and then fixed on the ocean floor. The bags will be weighed down with silt (淤泥) and sand to ensure the structural stability. Artificial “roots” designed to copy a tree with roots above the ground, will be placed around the structure to collect sediment (沉淀物) and act as a flood defense by water absorption and expansion when needed. The special structures will act like the island’s “life jacket” in an emergency, as they expand the trapped sediment and create artificial engineering land almost like an inflatable (充气的) runway. Guests of the hotel will shower in sea water that was specially treated. Krasojević said the plans were at an early stage and could take several years to build.

“The inspiration came to me when’ I saw the Pacific Ocean’s-fleet of plastic. This area is twice the size of France, because of the influence of ocean currents,” she said. “Plastic is malleable (有延展性的) and flexible, so it can be reprinted, reformed or broken down and rebuilt. I think it is a better choice than dumping garbage in’ landfills. It helps to raise the awareness of marine -waste, so it’s a good thing to do.”

1. Where will the 75-room hotel will be built?

A．the Pacific Ocean	B．On Australia’s Cocos archipelago
C．In Perth	D．On the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A．Funding has been introduced to build the resort.

B．People will use large bags full of silt and sand to ensure the structural stability.

C．Trees will be placed around the structure to act as a flood defense.

D．Guests of the hotel will shower in sea water.

3. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The reasons for building a floating ocean resort.

B．Suggestions on where to build a floating ocean resort.

C．The future of a floating ocean resort.

D．The time to build a floating ocean resort.

4. Where does the text most probably come from?

A．A health magazine

B．A history book

C．A travel guide of a city

D．A newspaper

5 . The plastic value chain faces two key challenges: controlling plastic waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The chemical industry has a unique role to play in addressing these challenges. Cooperation between upstream and downstream partners is essential to develop solutions that reduce plastic pollution and emissions in plastic production. SABIC(Saudi Basic Industries Corporation)is at the forefront of these efforts.

SABIC has set specific goals, including a commitment to achieve icarbon neutrality(碳中 和) by 2050. To realize this goal, the company has outlined a Carbon Neutrality Roadmap that focuses on five pathways: energy efficiency; renewable energy; electrification; carbon capture, usage and storage(CCUS); and green/blue hydrogen.

Recognizing the scale of the challenges, SABIC understands that progress cannot be made alone. The company actively cooperates through initiatives, such as the Low — Carbon Emitting Technologies(LCET) initiative, where chemical companies work together to accelerate the development of technology solutions for carbon neutrality.

Partnerships are also vital in addressing plastic waste. SABIC is a founding member of the Alliance(联盟) to End Plastic Waste, an organization that brings stakeholders(利益相关者) from across the value chain together to take collective action on the ground. The alliance works towards a future where plastic products never end up in landfills or oceans, but instead are reused or transformed into new products. SABIC is also actively involved in driving the transition from a linear to a circular carbon economy. As responsible plastic producers, SABIC recognizes the importance of offering sustainable materials to customers.

Although the chemical industry has made significant progress, there is still more work to do to achieve the goals. SABIC is already making progress on the complex, long—term effort required and will continue to partner with others to increase the solutions needed to push meaningful change.

1. What kind of difficulty is the plastic value chain faced with?

A．Exploring renewable energy.	B．Reducing plastic production.
C．Decreasing plastic pollution.	D．Achieving carbon neutrality.

2. What is vital for chemical companies according to paragraph 3 and paragraph 4?

A．Technology development.	B．Partners’ cooperation.
C．Carbon neutrality.	D．Sustainable development.

3. Which best describes SABIC’s efforts?

A．Fruitless

B．Predictable.

C．Frustrating.

D．Rewarding.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．SABIC: A leader mapping the path forward.

B．SABIC: A leader solving the plastic pollution.

C．SABIC: A leader reducing greenhouse gas emission.

D．SABIC:A leader founding the plastic value chain.

6 . Many kinds of turtles (海龟) found in the Philippines are endangered. But now, the turtles have one less threat. Many people who used to collect their eggs to eat or to sell are now working to keep turtles safe.

Those people are called poachers (偷猎者). Now, however, protection organizations are teaching former poachers how to safely collect the eggs and protect them before they hatch (孵化). The people who do this are paid about 37 cents per egg. That is four times more than they would earn from selling them illegally.

One of the former poachers is Johnny Manlugay. “I’ve learned to love this work,” he said, adding that he did not know it was illegal to eat turtle eggs and their meat. He now collects the eggs carefully and brings them to a group called Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions (CURMA), which takes the eggs and puts them under the sand in a safe place. When the baby turtles hatch, they are directed to the water.

The turtles are called “pawikan” in the local language. They are at risk not only from poachers, but also climate change and habitat loss.

Carlos Tamayo is one of CURMA’s leaders. “We talked to the poachers, and it turned out poaching was just another means for them to earn a living,” he said. “They had no choice.”

Cabagbag is over 40 years old. His wife and seven-year-old son sometimes help him collect turtle eggs. Since October, they have taken over 1,000 eggs to CURMA. Cabagbag said that once he received training and learned that the turtles were endangered, he stopped poaching.

When the baby turtles hatch, many visitors come to watch them run down the beach and into the water. Cabagbag said seeing the turtles get safely into the water brings him a feeling of joy.

1. What is one of the ways of the organizations to protect turtles?

A．Teaching former poachers to collect and protect turtle eggs.

B．Getting the locals to receive more education.

C．Encouraging the locals to develop tourism.

D．Helping raise the locals’ earnings.

2. What can be known about Johnny Manlugay?

A．He helps place the eggs under the sand.

B．He encouraged his family to collect the eggs.

C．He has taken more than 1,000 eggs from CURMA.

D．He once lacked the awareness of protecting turtles.

3. Which threat to turtles is not mentioned in the text?

A．Poachers.

B．Climate change.

C．Ocean pollution.

D．Habitat loss.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Turtles Are at Risk from Climate Change

B．Former Turtle Poachers Are Now Protectors

C．Turtle Population in the Philippines Is Changing

D．CURMA Is Offering Training of Turtle Protection to Farmers

7 . When you throw a plastic bottle into a recycling bin, do you ever think of its destination? Will it be reused, or will it end up just bringing more pollution to the environment?

In fact, only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling, one reason for which is that not all plastic can be recycled, sometimes because of the type of plastic, or because it’s polluted by food waste. Most plastic is burned, thrown into a landfill (垃圾填埋场), or spread around the natural environment.

Experts say companies should replace single-use containers with ones that can be used over and over. They could be metal or glass and be refilled at a store, by a company, or at home. Reuse, as well as removal of a lot of packaging we don't need, will also have to be a key part of the solution.

Several global companies have tested reusable packaging. But the effect of these programs was small at the beginning. As of 2019, less than 2% of the plastic packaging from dozens of companies was reusable. But the circular-economy (循环经济) movement has been gaining steam. In the United States, the reusable-packaging market for beauty and personal-care products grew by about 65% from June 2020 to May 2021.

Can reusable packaging help us save the environment? There’s a “payback” period with any reusable item. That’s the number of times it must be reused before it’s actually better for the environment than the single-use ones. Think about reusable sandwich packaging. The energy and resources needed to make and wash it are far more than what goes into making single-use bags. But reusable bottles could pay off.

What customers do is also important. If someone buys a metal shampoo bottle, gets lazy, and throws it into the garbage instead of refilling it, that might be worse for the environment than a single-use bottle. That’s because it took more energy to make the reusable metal bottle.

For a reuse program to work, experts say simple is best. One company experimenting with reusable packaging is Loop. Loop used to sell its products online, and customers sent empty containers back for a refill. The company has switched to stores to make the process easier. Customers return their bottles in person instead of having to mail them back to Loop.

1. Why does the author ask the questions in paragraph 1?

A．To give an example.	B．To show an opinion.
C．To lead into the topic.	D．To make a comparison.

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．Tests on reusable packaging.

B．Harmful single-use containers.

C．The companies supporting reusable packaging.

D．The development of reusable packaging.

3. When does reusable packaging make sense?

A．After it is used for enough times.	B．When it costs less to be produced.
C．After it replaces all single-use ones.	D．When all people accept it as daily use.

4. What should be done to make reuse programs work?

A．Selling all the products online.

B．Giving customers more products to choose from.

C．Making reusable packaging more beautiful.

D．Taking convenient measures for consumers.

8 . David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant of Warwickshire. England always let their 13-year-old dog, Scruff. pick up the plastic bottles he finds while out on their daily walks. The dog carries the bottle for a while, and they kick it or throw it for him to chase. The game is over when Scruff loses interest and drops it.

Throughout 2021, David and Yvonne observed Scruff’s habit of finding even the most well-hidden bottles. They also noticed a marked increase in the amount of litter in their rural area. David says they were both taught never to drop their trash as children, so they couldn’t believe that people were littering so much. At the start of 2022, David and Yvonne decided to start picking up the bottles to bring home with them. It was the large number of litter that made them decide to train Scruff to gather other people’s trash.

Since starting this journey, Scruff has become a local celebrity in his neighborhood. David and Yvonne never let Scruff pick up anything dangerous, like glass. They also remain appalled by the amount of litter they’ re seeing, and hope that people will hear Scruff’s story and either stop dropping trash or, perhaps, try picking it up themselves. Plus, Yvonne thinks Scruff took to his duties so well, other dogs could easily be trained to do what he does as well.

In the end, Scruff was able to gather up 1,334 bottles-along with three cups, a Pringles tub, and a baby feeding bottle. “If we walk the same route every day, he will find bottles on that route every single day,” said David. “We feel a bit of pride that we are picking them up, but a bit of anger that they’ re even there,” Yvonne said.

1. In which situation will the game be over?

A．Scruff gathers 100 bottles.

B．Scruff throws the bottle into the bin.

C．Scruff drops the plastic bottle.

D．David Grant sells the bottle for money.

2. What were David and Yvonne taught from their childhood?

A．Don’t drop litter everywhere.

B．Animals are our friends.

C．The best fish swim near the bottom.

D．Every dog has his day.

3. Which has the closest meaning to the underlined word “appalled”?

A．Independent.	B．Displeased.
C．Intelligent.	D．Disabled.

4. How do David and Yvonne feel about the result?

A．Excited and proud.	B．Angry and disappointed
C．Proud and happy.	D．Proud but angry.

9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.

Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.

On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.

As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.

However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.

注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Cities are the planet’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions (排放), so they offer the greatest opportunity to tackle climate change. Hitting net zero emissions by 2050, a target set at the COP26 summit, could be achieved more quickly using city digital twins—working virtual replicas (复制品) that help track, manage and reduce environmental damage rapidly.

The United Nations says cities, the most suitable subjects, which occupy less than two percent of the Earth’s surface, are major contributors to climate change, consuming almost 80 percent of the world’s energy and producing more than 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Urban areas are forecast to grow by another 2.5 billion people by 2050.

Digital twins look and behave identically in their real-world physical environments. Similar technologies have been in use since NASA’s Apollo moon mission in 1969, where computers and machine replicas were used to test and monitor spacecraft. Virtual 3D city models link to networks of sensors that collect data from buildings, transport, air quality and energy use, to see where emissions can be cut and efficiency improved.

The UK is planning a kind of national digital twins that will connect digital replicas man-aging buildings, factories, and the other infrastructure nationwide. And that could lead to en-tire virtual world online, part of a virtual reality space proposed by tech companies.

Research shows that digital twins can save cities more than $ 280 billion globally by 2030 through more efficient urban planning. A provider of digital twins, City zenith, believes that net zero deadlines could be achieved 15 years early if the world’s 100 biggest cities use the technology to remove carbon. “They are the perfect tool for managing and accelerating the energy transition,” said CEO Michael Jansen. “We could get to net zero emissions globally by 2035.”

In the US. the Digital Twin Consortium is working to standardize how digital twins are built and share data. Big tech companies around the world have developed software for replica-ting cities, including a district of Berlin, the island nation of Singapore, and the entire city of Shanghai in China.

1. What are city digital twins used to do?

A．Decorate cities.	B．Change cities’ climate.
C．Popularize urban technology.	D．Reduce urban carbon emissions.

2. Why are cities chosen for the use of digital twins?

A．They occupy most of the Earth’s surface.

B．They consume little of the world’s energy.

C．They produce little of solid waste pollution.

D．They contribute most to the greenhouse effect.

3. Why is the Apollo moon mission mentioned in the text?

A．To prove the accuracy of network data.

B．To tell us the importance of space tasks.

C．To explain the application of digital twins.

D．To show the difficulty of urban construction.

4. What can we learn about city digital twins from the last two paragraphs?

A．They lack research funding.

B．They are practical and promising.

C．They have reached a standard level.

D．They are complex and unrecognizable.