Melati and Isabel deeply love their home on the island, surrounded by tropical rain forests, green fields, and a vast ocean. Enjoying a swim at their local beach was once a daily pleasure for them. But when Melati was fifteen, and Isabel just ten, the sisters started to lose their enthusiasm for swimming in the waters near their borne. More often than not, plastic bags would be around them as they swam and some were scattered on the beach. They got really upset about that.
Melati didn’t think much about it until one day her teacher gave a lesson on some world heroes. Each of those people had sparked movements of positive changes in the world. They believed in the impact they could have and they did inspire more people to do something meaningful. After school, Melati walked home slowly in silence, concerned about the vast amount of plastic rubbish on the beach. The heroes crossed her mind. If they could do it, we could do it too, she thought. The idea lit her up. She couldn’t wait to share what she thought with Isabel and quickened her pace.
“So many plastic bags around! The beach is dirty and messy! It’s so terrible! We have lost the clean and beautiful beach. Can’t we do something to get it back?” Melati said heartily. Isabel felt a bit puzzled at what to do, but she also had a strong desire to do something. Picturing a beach as fascinating as before in mind, the pair jumped with joy.
They talked a lot, anxious to know how Dad and Mom would respond to their ideas. That night when the family sat by the dinner table, the sisters eagerly got their ideas across. While Mom and Dad listened to the girls carefully, their eyes shone. “How amazing that would be! We are so proud of you!” Dad exclaimed. Mom came up, gave them a thumb up and hugged the sisters.
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。
Melati and Isabel decided to make a positive impact straight away.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One month later, Melati received a call from the local newspaper.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Government agencies and volunteer groups in many places are using sea creatures to protect coastal areas from storms and rising sea levels. The idea is that large groups of oysters (牡蛎) known as colonies, can help reduce the power of waves. Powerful waves can damage lands along the edge of ocean waters.
Oysters may play an important part in dealing with the problem. Oysters are central to a project that is taking place near Vaccaro’s rebuilt house. The project is being carried out by the Littore Society. It received $1 million from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The group has been building steel wire containers, filling them with rocks and whelk (海螺) shells an positioning them along the shoreline of Barnegat Bay.
Tiny baby oysters are attached to whelk shells and placed in the existing cages to further strengthen the shoreline. The shoreline in Vaccaro’s neighborhood has lost 46 meters of beach since 1995, the Littoral Society says.
The oysters appear to be doing their job. One recent day, a strong east wind blew across the bay. But between the oysters and the shoreline, the water was much calmer, and waves gently wen onto the shoreline instead of hitting it with force.
As an added benefit, the oysters help improve water quality in the bay. The Associated Press reports that a single oyster can filter (过滤) up to 190 liters of water a day.
A few kilometers south, a group called ReClam the Bay is building an oyster reef to protect the shoreline of Mordecai Island. People do not live on the island, but it protects the shoreline of Beach Haven, a town on Long Beach Island.
Volunteers fill bags with 16 kilograms of whelk shells, to which millions of baby oysters have been attached. Then volunteers move them out to the reef a few hundred yards into the ocean. They have placed 10, 000 bags of oysters and whelk shells there since 2015.
1. Where do the baby oysters grow?| A．On the sea rocks. | B．In steel wire cages. |
| C．In shallow calm water. | D．In the fishermen’s houses. |
| A．The sea life project works. | B．The baby oysters grow well. |
| C．The beach stops missing. | D．The sea pollution is dropping. |
| A．It cooperates with the Littoral Society. |
| B．It offers baby oysters to the Littoral Society. |
| C．It has the same aim as the Littoral Society. |
| D．It has made more progress than the Littoral Society. |
| A．Oyster Farming Has Great Benefits |
| B．Volunteer Ocean Protection Is in Action |
| C．Worldwide Beaches Are Disappearing Fast |
| D．Little Sea Creature Could Save Coastal Land |
3 . When the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world’s governing body for soccer, claimed that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be “a fully carbon-neutral (碳中和) event”, it attracted worldwide laughter from the environmentalists.
World Cup hosts often maintain that stadiums built for the event will remain in constant use after its conclusion—a claim that allows them to spread their carbon footprint over many years. But it’s hard to believe the claim. After all, Qatari soccer culture is still undeveloped. Even soccer- mad countries such as Russia, Brazil and South Africa-hosts of the previous three men’s World Cups-have been left with a group of relatively useless stadiums.
In addition to the carbon cost of the stadiums, Qatar expects to see 1, 300 daily flights to and from the country during the World Cup. But that’s not the only source of airplane emissions. The grass seeds to give rise to the tournament’s green pitches (球场) have been flown in from North America on climate-controlled planes. And these fields won’t water themselves. The groundskeepers who maintain the eight stadium pitches, as well as the 136 practice fields, douse each field with 10, 000 liters of water every day in the winter. In the summer the pitches require a surprising amount of 50, 000 liters each.
Soccer isn’t alone in this. Three recent Olympics-Tokyo 2020, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Sochi 2014-earned some of the worst environmental sustainability scores. All this raises an important question: Is it even possible to stage a carbon-neutral sports mega event? The ever- expanding size of these events likely puts net-zero emissions out of reach. One recent study found that between 1964 and 2018, the soccer World Cup and the Olympics were about 60 times as large in terms of the number of sports, athletes, journalists, spectators, marketing and costs involved.
The large sports events, as they are currently organized, are unsustainable. Since FIFA and the International Olympic Committee made more environmental claims back in the 1990s, their events have only become bigger, and their effects have only become more severe.
1. What did environmentalists think of FIFA’s claim about the 2022 World Cup?| A．It made no sense. |
| B．It was worth promoting. |
| C．It attracted no attention. |
| D．It lived up to their expectations. |
| A．They are of great cultural value. |
| B．They are of not much use. |
| C．They have been completely transformed. |
| D．They have produced long-term benefits. |
| A．The great scale of the 2022 World Cup. |
| B．The difficulty in hosting the 2022 World Cup. |
| C．The high carbon cost of the 2022 World Cup. |
| D．The huge economic input of the 2022 World Cup. |
| A．Critical. |
| B．Mixed. |
| C．Favorable. |
| D．Unclear. |
4 . What do you think of when you hear the word “drought”: Do you think of “dry” “hot” “dusty” “cracked (开裂的) earth” or even “no water”? If so you’re on the right track!
When some places are in drought, they may be dry, hot and dusty. Cracks may appear in the soil, and rivers, lakes, streams and other sources of water may go dry. Other places in drought get some rain, but not as much as they usually receive during that season. Drought means that a place has less rain or snow than normal over a few months or even longer.
Drought has many causes. It can be caused by not receiving rain or snow over a period of time. We learned in the discussions above about the water cycle and weather. The changes in the wind patterns that move clouds and moisture through the atmosphere can cause a place not to receive its normal amount of rain or snow over a long period of time.
If you live in a place where most of the water you use comes from a river, a drought in your area can be caused by places upstream from you not receiving enough moisture. There would be less water in the river for you and other people who live along the river to use.
People can also play a big role in a drought. If we use too much water during times of normal rainfall, we might not have enough water when a drought happens.
1. What’s the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To analyze the problem. |
| C．To conclude the article. | D．To put forward an argument. |
| A．The weather will be dry, hot and windy. |
| B．There won’t be any water left in rivers or lakes. |
| C．There will be less rain or snow for quite a long time. |
| D．The rainy season will be replaced by the snowy season. |
| A．Dust in the wind. | B．Rain in the soil. | C．Snow on the ground. | D．Water in the air. |
| A．The definition (定义) of drought. | B．The water cycle and weather. |
| C．The causes of drought. | D．The influence of drought. |
5 . Using too much water or throwing rubbish into our rivers are clear ways that humans can put our water supply in danger, but we also affect our water supply in less obvious ways. You may wonder how paving(铺砌) a road can lead to less usable fresh water. A major part of the water we use every day is groundwater. Groundwater does not come from lakes or rivers. It comes from underground. The more roads and parking lots we pave, the less water can flow into the ground to become groundwater.
Human activity is not responsible for all water shortages(缺乏). Drier climates are of course more likely to have droughts(干旱) than areas with more rainfall, but in any case, good management can help to make sure there is enough water to meet our basic needs .
Thinking about the way we use water every day can make a big difference, too. In the United States, a family of four can use 1.5 tons of water a day! This shows how much we depend on water to live, but there’s a lot we can do to lower the number.
You can take steps to save water in your home. To start with, use the same glass for your drinking water all day. Wash it only once a day. Run your dishwasher only when it is full. Help your parents fix any leaks(滴水) in your home. You can even help to keep our water supply clean by recycling batteries instead of throwing them away.
1. Which of the following is most likely to lead to less groundwater?| A．Using river water. | B．Throwing batteries away. |
| C．Throwing rubbish into lakes. | D．Paving parking lots. |
| A．All water shortages are due to human behavior. |
| B．It takes a lot of effort to meet our water needs. |
| C．There is much we can do to reduce family size. |
| D．The average family in America makes proper use of water. |
| A．show us how to fix leaks at home |
| B．tell us how to run a dishwasher |
| C．prove what drinking glass is best for us |
| D．suggest what we do to save water at home |
| A．how human activity affects our water supply |
| B．how much we depend on water to live |
| C．why droughts occur more in dry climates |
| D．why paving roads reduces our water |
6 . To solve the problem of tiny plastics polluting waterways, chemists in the Czech Republic are thinking small. Their brainchild is a new microrobot which is no bigger than the tip of a sharpened pencil. When sunlight hits them, they produce chemical reactions that push them through water in a specific direction. When they find a piece of plastic, they stick to it and start to break it down.
Chemist Martin Pumera at the Czech University led the project. A decade ago, he chose to focus on the problem posed by microplastics. They’re everywhere—from the bottom of the ocean to air blowing onto ice atop mountains. They’ve turned up in drinking water. Some studies estimate that billions of pieces of plastic end up in the world’s waters. The plastic has many sources, from shopping bags to washing and cleaning wipes.
In lab experiments, the star-shaped swimmers stuck onto each of four different types of plastic. And after a week exposed to light, the robots had reduced the weight of the plastics. It wasn’t much—only by percent. But that was an indication that they were breaking the plastic down. They also caused the surface of the plastic to change from smooth to rough. That’s another sign that the robots were degrading (分解) it. The new study is a proof of concept type. That means it shows something can be done successfully.
In fact, Pumera says they still have a long way to go. There are many types of plastics. And even these microrobots are unlikely to succeed in degrading them all. The researchers also have not yet shown how safe this system is for the environment, although Pumera says that’s their next goal. The first real-world test will be in a wastewater-treatment plant. “Indeed,” says one researcher. “We’ll need a lot of testing to show that they’re safe in open waterways, such as at sea.”
1. What does the underlined word “brainchild” in paragraph 1 refer to?.| A．idea | B．hope | C．project | D．routine |
| A．The purpose of Pumera’s project. |
| B．The preciousness of drinking water. |
| C．The seriousness of plastic pollution. |
| D．The working principle of the microrobots. |
| A．The weight loss of the plastics. |
| B．The disappearance of the plastics. |
| C．The shape change of the microrobots. |
| D．The improvement in the quality of water. |
| A．Ways to Obtain Cleaner Drinking Water |
| B．Microrobots Invented to Treat Wastewater |
| C．New Hope for the Solution to Plastic Pollution |
| D．Technology Widely Applied in Environment Protection |
1. 说明写信的目的
2. 告知时间和地点
3. 介绍演讲的内容(如环境保护的原因、后果及措施等)
注意：1. 词数为 80 左右。
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3.英语社(English Club)
Dear Professor Smith，
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
8 . Climate change is a global challenge. One way to fight it is by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. New research shows that trees planted in China have helped in this fight.
A recent study in the journal Nature shows that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed (吸收) by new forests in two parts of China is more than we thought. These areas are in the northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces and the southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. They make up about 35 percent of China’s land-based (基于陆地的) carbon sinks (碳汇). A carbon sink is a natural area like a forest or ocean that absorbs more-carbon dioxide than it emits (排放). Carbon sinks help to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
China’s goal is to peak (达到峰值) its CO2 emissions (排放) before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality (中和) by 2060, Xinhua reported. Carbon neutrality refers to removing as much CO2 as one puts into the air.
According to study co-author Yi Liu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, “the afforestation activities described in our Nature paper will play a role in reaching that goal.”
1. A recent study in Nature shows that ________.| A．China has serious air pollution | B．China has planted the most trees in the world |
| C．China has fewer CO2 emissions now | D．China has planted fewer trees |
| A．is the world’s largest emitter of CO2 | B．will bring CO2 emissions down after 2030 |
| C．will not release CO2 in the future | D．will reach carbon neutrality by 2030 |
| A．One way to fight climate is by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. |
| B．Trees planted in China have helped fight against climate change. |
| C．New forests in two parts of China absorbed more carbon dioxide than we thought. |
| D．35 percent of China’s land has been affected by CO2 emission. |
| A．It takes a long time for carbon sinks to form. | B．Climate change is no longer a serious problem. |
| C．More trees will be planted in China in the future. | D．China has beaten climate change. |
9 . The mangrove tree might not look very impressive, but it is an essential part of our ecosystem. However, more than half of the mangrove forests have been destroyed in the past century. Several World Heritage Sites have been listed largely because of their mangrove ecosystems. Among them are the Sundarbans across India and Bangladesh, the Everglades National Park in the US, and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Being a World Heritage Site requires for the mangroves to be protected. However, one country in Asia has gone further by having a five-year program to protect and conserve all their mangroves. They even have a mangrove museum and observe World Mangrove Day. This country is Sri Lanka. Why are mangrove trees so important to Sri Lanka and to other countries where mangroves grow?
The mangrove tree grows along coastal saltwater shorelines. They have adapted to the harsh coastal weather and have deep roots. This means that they are strong and cannot be easily removed. In countries where natural disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones occur, the forests provide protection. The villages in Sri Lanka with full mangrove forests have suffered less damage when hit by these natural disasters. The reason is that the mangroves break up the force and strength of the waves.
The mangroves also quickly absorb carbon dioxide and send oxygen into the atmosphere. This makes them an important part of the fight against climate change. They absorb far more carbon dioxide than other types of forest, and store it in their structure and even in the soil. This is important as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is believed to be a cause of detrimental changes in the weather, such as global warming.
The strong roots also provide protection for young fish as they grow. With the oceans around the world being overfished, it is important to maintain the ecological balance in the oceans. For Sri Lanka, one of the threats to the mangrove forests is the shrimp farms being set up. To build saltwater ponds for the shrimps, the mangroves are cut down. This has resulted in fewer fish surviving among the mangrove roots and fewer fish being caught by the fishermen. The local fishing communities noticed that they were losing money and it made them aware of how important the mangroves were. They are now helping to conserve the forests.
Sri Lanka is showing that a nation can preserve all of its mangroves. The conservation model they have can be used by other countries. It might take many years of planning, but the benefits of saving mangroves definitely outweigh the costs.
1. What do we know about the mangrove trees from the passage?| A．They are mainly grown in Australia. |
| B．They can prevent young fish from growing. |
| C．They have been damaged by natural disasters. |
| D．They are less impressive but important to the ecosystem. |
| A．A world mangrove festival has been founded. |
| B．Saltwater ponds for the shrimps have been set up. |
| C．A 5-year mangroves protecting program has been started. |
| D．More mangroves along the coastal areas have been grown. |
| A．The mangroves can keep the ecological balance in the oceans. |
| B．The mangroves are essential for fighting against climate change. |
| C．The mangroves have deep roots and hold the soil in place firmly. |
| D．The mangroves can break up the force and strength of the waves. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
10 . Two thirds of the ice in the glaciers (冰川) of the Alps is doomed! These glaciers will melt by the end of the century as global temperatures rise, according to a recent study.
Scientists claim that half the ice held in some 4,000 Alpine glaciers will disappear by 2050 due to global warming through the effect of past emissions. After that, even if carbon emissions drop to zero, two-thirds of the ice will still have melted by 2100. If emissions continue to rise at the current rate, the ice tongues will have all but disappeared from Alpine valleys by the end of the century. The most pessimistic prediction tells us that the Alps will be mostly ice-free by 2100. Only isolated ice patches would remain at high altitudes, representing five per cent, at most, of the ice volume seen today.
The researchers warn that the loss of these glaciers will mean much less water is available for farming and hydroelectricity, especially during droughts. It would also affect nature and tourism.
In February, a study found that a third of the huge ice fields in Asia’s towering mountain chains were also under threat for the same reasons. This will lead to serious consequences for almost two billion people who live downstream. Glaciers along the Hindu Kush and Himalayan range are at higher, colder altitudes. If global carbon emissions are not cut, however, two-thirds of their ice could be gone by 2100.
The latest research combined computer models with real-world data to forecast the fate of the glaciers. It used 2017 as its starting point. Unlike previous work, these models included how the glaciers move down the mountains. Applying this approach to other glaciated mountain chains could improve ice loss forecasts there.
Cutting the emissions from fossil-fuel burning, deforestation and other polluting activities is the biggest factor in minimizing the melting of the ice. The future of these glaciers is indeed at risk, but there is still a possibility of limiting their disappearance.
1. What does the underlined word “doomed” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Polluted. | B．Discovered. | C．Endangered. | D．Abandoned. |
| A．Emissions have much to do with the ice melting. |
| B．The Alps is expected to lose all its ice by 2100. |
| C．Ice loss will be avoided with emissions prevented. |
| D．Large ice pieces will just exist at the mountain top. |
| A．To explain how glacier melting came about. |
| B．To imply pollution is a worldwide problem. |
| C．To show what consequences ice melting will cause. |
| D．To indicate the Alps is not alone to face ice melting. |
| A．Objective. | B．Optimistic. | C．Critical. | D．Doubtful. |
