1 . I had always hoped to travel to Hawaii but couldn’t afford it. By chance, a friend
A month into my sit. I had explored the
I changed my way of living and even my
This journey has led me to some amazing
| A．offered | B．mentioned | C．doubted | D．designed |
| A．coming across | B．giving up | C．turning down | D．searching for |
| A．application | B．apology | C．order | D．invitation |
| A．obviously | B．generally | C．luckily | D．casually |
| A．website | B．destination | C．custom | D．market |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Otherwise | D．Instead |
| A．saw | B．possible | C．easy | D．normal |
| A．dangerous | B．type | C．process | D．issue |
| A．proposal | B．threw | C．produced | D．buried |
| A．pay for | B．take off | C．pick up | D．cut down |
| A．questions | B．standards | C．money | D．awareness |
| A．necessities | B．diets | C．impression | D．workout |
| A．forget | B．compete | C．agree | D．continue |
| A．and | B．or | C．nor | D．but |
| A．goal | B．advice | C．limit | D．answer |
2 . My husband and I always wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it. By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.
We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise, landed a three-month job in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.
Inspired by a Canadian couple, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The British Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches. However, for every photo album of a beautiful beach, there were 10 photos of trash (垃圾). It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such primitive and remote beaches. So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick upon our daily dog walks.
The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pollution. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free. We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.
It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.
Our aim now is to keep on going. We love connecting with like-minded people. It’s been amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?
1. Why did the author do pet sitting?| A．To cover travel expenses. | B．To raise fund. |
| C．To conserve the environment. | D．To shoot beautiful beaches. |
| A．Pet sitting is a new sort of occupation. |
| B．The Caribbean is a perfect travel destination. |
| C．Travel blog is a superb way to gain popularity. |
| D．Actions should be taken to fight plastic pollution. |
| A．Challenging. | B．Significant. | C．Adventurous. | D．Unbearable. |
| A．Shifting Lifestyles by Pet Sitting | B．Address Global Environment Pollution |
| C．Unexpected Gains from Pet Sitting Travel | D．The availability of Pet Sitting in the Caribbean |
3 . SpoGomi, a combination of “sport” and “gomi” (Japanese for rubbish), is a popular competition in which teams of 3~5 people try to pick up the most trash of the highest quality in a set period of time.
Japan recently announced that it would host the first SpoGomi World Cup in November of 2023, with teams from all over the world searching the streets of Tokyo for trash to pick up. Each team of three players will have 60 minutes to gather the most trash from a designated (指定的) area while trying to sort it correctly into color-coded bags for each type. When the time is up, the trash will be weighed and checked for proper sorting, and the team with the most trash wins. In case of a tie, the winner is determined by the quality of the trash, with points awarded by type.
The SpoGomi World Cup sounds like a great way to encourage people to keep public spaces clean, but in terms of the competitive aspect, there is little incredulity as to which team will win. After all, the Japanese are famous worldwide for cleaning up after themselves everywhere they go.
Participants all wear heavy-duty cleaning gloves that allow them to pick up virtually any type of trash, as well as tongs to pick up trash from a standing position. At the start of the competition, they all yell “Picking up trash is a sport!” before running into their designated areas. At the end of the given time, all participants return to the starting line to have their trash weighed and checked.
Winning teams usually receive a certificate or an award from the organizers, and maybe a small prize from sponsors. But SpoGomi isn’t really about rewards. Participants just enjoy the competitive nature of the sport, working as a group, spending valuable time outdoors and keeping their cities clean.
1. Which aspect about the SpoGomi World Cup does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?| A．Its competition rules. | B．Its significance. |
| C．Its history. | D．Its participation requirements. |
| A．Difference. | B．Meaning. | C．Certainty. | D．Doubt. |
| A．They can strengthen the love for wildlife. |
| B．They can develop better team spirit. |
| C．They can learn to manage their life better. |
| D．They can become more energetic and generous. |
| A．A news report. | B．A book review. |
| C．A diary entry. | D．A research paper. |
4 . A United Nations report found the ozone layer (臭氧层) is slowly recovering, more than 35 years after every nation in the world agreed to stop producing ozone-consuming chemicals. The ozone layer, a blanket of gas that exists between 10km and 50km above Earth’s surface, protects the planet from the sun’s powerful radiation.
“We see things getting better,” said Paul Newman, co-chair of the UN team that examines the health of the ozone layer every four years. The global average amount of ozone 30km high in the atmosphere won’t be back to 1980 levels until about 2040, the report said. And it won’t be back to normal in the Arctic until 2045.In Antarctica, where the ozone layer is so thin that there’s a big hole, it won’t be fully fixed until 2066, the report said.
The global effort to recover the ozone hole came out of a 1987 agreement called the Montreal Protocol. Professor Petteri Taalas said the recovering of the ozone layer showed what could be achieved when the world worked together. “Ozone action sets an example for climate action,” Professor Taalas said.
There were signs of recovering in the last report on the ozone layer four years ago but the improvements were only slight. “Those numbers of recovery have solidified a lot,” Mr. Newman said. Mr. Newman added the two main chemicals that damage the ozone layer—chlorine (氯) and bromine (溴)—were now in lower levels in the atmosphere. Chlorine levels were down 11.5 per cent since peaking in 1993 and bromine, which is more damaging to the ozone layer but is at lower levels in the air, dropped 14.5 per cent since its 1999 peak.
UN environment program director Inger Andersen has previously said the recovering of the ozone hole was “saving two million people every year from skin cancer”.
1. What do we know about the ozone layer from paragraph 1?| A．It made the whole world work together. |
| B．It can protect the sun from powerful radiation. |
| C．It is recovering at a speed more than expected. |
| D．It can produce some chemicals for consumption. |
| A．The average amount of ozone. | B．The present situation of ozone. |
| C．The places where ozone appears. | D．The times when ozone fully recovers. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Uncertain. | C．Optimistic. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．There were some false data in the last report. |
| B．Chlorine and bromine levels in the air have come down. |
| C．Skin cancer is caused to a larger extent by the ozone layer. |
| D．Chlorine causes more damage to the ozone layer than bromine. |
5 . Levon Biss was looking at insects from his garden through a microscope he bought for his son. For fun, they unintentionally placed an insect under the lens (镜片). “It is amazingly beautiful!” they both screamed.
The father had been making a career taking photographs for advertisements. But that experience gave him a new direction. Around the world, insect populations are in decline because of habitat loss and climate change. Biss thought that if people could see what he saw through his son’s microscope, they would care more about protecting insects.
So Biss turned to macrophotography: taking close-up pictures of small things, like flowers or bugs. His work has attracted attention not just for its unusual beauty. It also raises awareness about the need for conservation.
In 2016, Biss showed his first insect project, Microsculpture. The term refers to the features of an insect’s exoskeleton, or outer shell, which develops over time as the bug adapts to its environment.
Biss’s pictures capture the insects in all their microscopic details. Then he blows up the images until the insects become larger than life, some of them eight feet tall. But each image takes weeks to make. He uses a digital camera with a microscope lens. The camera is fixed on a computerized track, which allows Biss to take a shot, then move the camera by seven microns (微米) — a distance equals to about 1/10 the thickness of a human hair — for the next shot. In the end, Biss might take 10,000 shots of a bug. A computer combines these small pictures into a single image.
Biss’s latest exhibition is Extinct and Endangered at the American Museum of Natural History. He selected bugs that were extinct or endangered, hoping his photographs would serve as a better purpose. “I communicate visually,” he says, “The way I work is through pictures. But I think it’s my duty to shake things up and get people to pay attention.”
1. What made Levon Biss turn to macrophotography?| A．Beautiful insects. | B．Attractive environment. |
| C．An expensive microscope. | D．An accidental observation. |
| A．By taking a shot at them twice. |
| B．By adjusting the camera on a track. |
| C．By taking close-up pictures countless times. |
| D．By putting them in order on a computer. |
| A．Get rid of the prejudice. |
| B．Take action to save wildlife. |
| C．Spare no efforts to face difficulties. |
| D．Make people think about nature differently. |
| A．Patient and responsible. | B．Wealthy and ambitious. |
| C．Polite and strong-willed. | D．Curious and easy-going. |
6 . Earthquake forecasting is one of the most ancient skills known to mankind. From ancient Greece to the present day, countless scientists have tried to develop tools to predict earthquakes. Their attempts usually focused on searching for reliable evidences of coming quakes.
However, there are many reasons why predicting quakes is so hard. “We don’t understand some basic physics of earthquakes,” said Egill, a research professor at the California Institute of Technology. Scientists have also attempted to create mathematical models of movement, but precisely predicting would require great mapping and analysis of the Earth’s crust. Other challenges include a lack of data on the early warning signs, given that these warning signs are not yet entirely understood. Actually, real earthquake prediction is very similar to the diagnosis of potential human illnesses based on observing and analyzing each patient’s signs and symptoms. As it turns out, quake prediction is extremely difficult.
Many sources show that earthquake forecasting was a recognized science in ancient Greece. Ancient Greeks lived very close to nature and were able to detect unusual phenomena and forecast earthquakes. The first known forecast was made by Pherecydes of Syros about 2500 years ago: he made it as he scooped water from a well and noticed that usually very clean water had suddenly become muddy. Indeed, an earthquake occurred two days later, making Pherecydes famous. Nowadays, seismic and remote-sensing methods are considered to have the greatest potential in terms of solving the earthquake prediction problem.
Currently, Terra Seismic can identify a forthcoming earthquake with a high level of confidence. Generally, Terra Seismic does not predict a quake if the earthquake’s epicenter is located beyond a depth of 40 km. Fortunately, such quakes are almost always harmless, since quake’s energy reduces before reaching the Earth’s surface. “Scientists have tried every possible method to try to predict earthquakes,” Bruneau said. “Nobody has been able to crack it and make a believable prediction.”
1. What do we know about earthquake forecasting?| A．Scientists have been passionate about accurately predicting earthquakes. |
| B．As long as enough data is collected, earthquakes can be predicted. |
| C．Mathematical models of motion can simulate and predict earthquakes. |
| D．Scientists have not yet fully studied the structure of earthquakes. |
| A．By seismic and remote-sensing methods. |
| B．By observing unusual natural phenomena. |
| C．By living in seismic zones throughout the year. |
| D．By looking into data on the early warning signs. |
| A．He strongly believed the Terra Seismic can solve the difficult problem. |
| B．He was sure that humans could accurately predict earthquakes in the future. |
| C．He considered it harmless to humans for an earthquake deeper than 40km. |
| D．He thought that scientists had no reliable method to predict earthquakes. |
| A．Why do humans predict earthquakes? |
| B．How to protect oneself during an earthquake? |
| C．What methods can be used to forecast earthquakes? |
| D．When to achieve accurate earthquake forecasting? |
Strange things were happening in Tangshan. For a few days, the water in the wells rose and fell. From the cracks in the well walls, some
The earthquake which destroyed the city
With strong support from the government, a new Tangshan was built upon the earthquake ruins. The city has proved
8 . Humans can race to get out of a hurricane’s path. Some animals can sense a hurricane coming and leave quickly, but there are animals that can’t simply get out of the way. Here are the various effects of hurricanes on animals.
Birds may be able to sense air pressure and other changes in the environment, which encourages them to get out of harm’s way. Some birds will even speed up their migration (迁徙) leaving earlier than usual if a serious hurricane is approaching. However, strong winds can push birds hundreds of miles away from their home. Young or weak birds can become separated from the rest of their group and often have difficulty making it home.
Fish can also be affected. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, about 184 million fish died in south Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin alone. Strong winds blew leaves off trees, blowing them into wetlands. The rotting (腐烂的) organic material to extremely low levels of oxygen in the water, killing the fish. Some fish will often find sheltered areas during hurricanes, but they’re not always safe. Dolphins have occasionally been blown to shore during big hurricanes.
There are many other dangers that come with hurricane-related water. Sharp rise of saltwater onshore can harm wildlife and plants that live in the freshwater and can’t bear the salt content.Heavy rain can also affect the balance of fresh and salt water in some areas, harming the creatures that live in them.
Many animals lose their regular food supply when a hurricane arrives, as strong winds and rains destroy trees of fruits, nuts and berries. During Hurricane Andrew, about one-quarter of Louisiana’s public oyster seed (牡蛎种苗) grounds were destroyed. Because the oysters were an important food source for some birds on Louisiana’s barrier Islands, the birds suffered mass death as a direct result of the hurricane.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．Birds are adapting to a changing climate. |
| B．Birds can sense the coming of a hurricane. |
| C．Birds migrate at certain times of every year. |
| D．Birds’ habitats are destroyed by hurricanes. |
| A．Poisonous leaves. | B．Air pollution. |
| C．A lack of oxygen. | D．The loss of shelters. |
| A．Ocean ecosystem is destroyed. |
| B．Sea salt production is reduced. |
| C．Many animals move away from their habitats. |
| D．There would be less fresh water on the earth. |
| A．Animals suffer more than humans during a hurricane |
| B．What happens to animals during a hurricane? |
| C．Why do animals migrate earlier than usual? |
| D．Animals might face serious threats |
9 . It’s no secret that inhaling (吸入) smoke is bad for your lungs. But now, scientists are suggesting smoke may also carry and spread infectious diseases. The theory, published in Science Magazine, is based on research that found wildfire smoke is crowded with thousands of species of microorganisms. Some of these microorganisms, including bacteria and fungal spores, are known to cause disease.
The new research suggests that when a wildfire burns plant or animal matter and disturbs soils, it exposes thousands of species of bacteria and fungi that otherwise might not easily become airborne (空气传播的). You might think the high heat from fire would kill these organisms, but one study mentioned in the article found that some bacteria even multiply post-fire. Scientists say the organisms attach to smoke particles, allowing them to travel thousands of miles across continents.
Dr. Peter Chen, director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, is interested in the theory but somewhat skeptical that the microorganisms in smoke would actually cause infections. Many bacteria and fungi don’t cause lung infections, says Chen, but it’s certainly possible that a significant amount could worsen symptoms in someone with a preexisting lung condition. “I always thought it was the particles in smoke that were causing these issues,” says Chen. “But when I read this, I started thinking: Could it be the microorganisms that are also worsening existing illnesses?”
Whether the microorganisms in smoke actually cause infection or simply worsen potential respiratory (呼吸的) issues, the article raises a new health threat that is “certainly alarming”, says Kelsey Jack, an associate professor of environmental and development economics. This is especially true for lower-income populations, Jack says, because people with fewer means are often more exposed to the environment. If smoke is affecting the air quality in a certain area, the people who work outside, or who have to go to the office on foot or by bike will inhale more smoke than those who drive.
But until more research is done, Chen says the best thing people can do is just follow existing recommendations when air quality is poor—including staying indoors, keeping windows and doors closed, using HEPA filters and running air conditioning.
1. What can we know about the microorganisms from paragraph 2?| A．They could be killed by high heat. |
| B．They could reproduce in large numbers after fires. |
| C．They could possibly travel through air by themselves. |
| D．They can easily attach themselves to smoke particles. |
| A．They might worsen lung diseases. | B．They will cause lung infections. |
| C．They will destroy living environments. | D．They might damage respiratory systems. |
| A．They live in poor areas. |
| B．They drive to and from work. |
| C．They have suffered from lung disease. |
| D．They are exposed to polluted air more frequently. |
| A．Results of the new research. |
| B．Suggestions on dealing with poor air quality. |
| C．Disagreements between the author and Chen. |
| D．Benefits of preventing smoke from polluting the air. |
10 . Two environmental groups want a major soft drink giant to be pulled out of the world’s largest climate conference over plastics concerns, arguing the material has become “the new coal”.
Just Zero and Beyond Plastics, two US-based groups, called on the United Nations Climate Change Conference to cancel Coca-Cola’ s status as a sponsor of this year’s COP 27 on Wednesday. They believed that the soft drink manufacturer’s role in the event is undermining the global fight against climate change and conflicts with the efforts to bring down emissions.
“COP 27 is supposed to focus on solutions to the serious climate crisis.” said Judith Enck, who heads Beyond Plastics, “Instead, we’re allowing it to be a stage for company greenwashing.”
She was joined in her remarks by Just Zero State Policy Director Peter Blair, who said the company’s sponsorship of COP 27 “makes it hard to see this meeting as anything more than a performative act.”
Coca-Cola has repeatedly emphasized its recycling commitments and investments, which include plans to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury. But an annual audit of corporate brands by Break Free From Plastic, an international coalition, has notably named Coca-Cola “the world’s top plastic polluter” for four years running.
Critics charge that its pollution footprint speaks for itself. Coca-Cola has said that it is responsible for around 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging, an inevitable (不可避免的) waste product. Such numbers, advocates argue, should disqualify the company from COP 27 sponsorship.
“By pouring millions of dollars into sponsoring COP 27, Coca-Cola is making a shameful play to give the appearance of environmental responsibility.” said Blair. “But behind the scenes, Coca Cola launched campaigns to block improvements in real recycling and resist calls to transition away from single-use plastic bottles to reusable and refillable glass containers.
1. What does the underlined word “undermining” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Making...less popular. | B．Making...less powerful. |
| C．Making...more reliable. | D．Making...more interesting. |
| A．Their doubt and surprise. | B．Their confusion and curiosity. |
| C．Their support and expectation. | D．Their anger and disappointment. |
| A．Do as you would be done by. | B．What’s done cannot be undone. |
| C．He who plays with fire gets burned. | D．Speak in one way and behave in another. |
| A．Coca-Cola—The World’s Top Plastic Polluter |
| B．Coca-Cola—One of the Sponsors of COP 27 |
| C．Green Groups Try to Kick Coca-Cola Out of COP 27 |
| D．Green Groups Demand That Coca-Cola Stop Pollution |
