1 . The world’s first 3D-printed wood log hive (蜂箱) is a new project developed by the Lacrima Foundation in Edinburgh to reduce the troubling decline of honey bee populations around the world.
The Lacrima Foundation is a charity that is “committed to the conservation and protection of one of the Earth’s most important inhabitant.” The charity teamed up with beekeepers in Europe to work towards a rewilding approach that would offer bees a natural nest habitat and, in turn, create resilience (复原力) among bee communities.
Honey bees are one of the most important pollinators (授粉者), and although they may seem small and insignificant, they are vital for the production of our food — we couldn’t eat without them! However, in recent years, bee populations have been severely impacted by the growing climate emergency and our intensive agriculture practices, including the overuse of pesticides.
With help from local partners, the Foundation created 3D-printed wood log hives, which allow the bees to live in an undisturbed ecosystem where they can carry out their lives. They install these hives in high sections of tree trunks to model natural conditions for the big honey bee populations.
Vince Moucha, chairman of the Lacrima Foundation, said, “Even though there are other people and organisations working in the field of natural beekeeping, the impact, progress and scope of these projects is minimal and slow, due to limited access to resources and clear vision. I am driven by responsibility and decided to act on it due to the urgency and importance of this matter.”
The Foundation will continue to work with beekeepers in the UK, Europe, and the United States to help our bee populations survive and thrive for them and us! Check out the Lacrima Foundation, where you can see their mission and donate to the cause and even get a honey bee gift bracelet in return.
1. What is the project of the Lacrima Foundation aimed at?| A．Increasing the production of human’s food. |
| B．Studying the cause of bees’ population loss. |
| C．Developing new habitats for struggling bees. |
| D．Teaming up with beekeepers for fundraising. |
| A．To help bees avoid pesticides. | B．To adapt bees to the new habitats. |
| C．To test the first 3D-printed hives. | D．To protect bees from climate crisis. |
| A．The progress of other projects. | B．The effect of other organizations. |
| C．The difficult position of bees. | D．The responsibility to care about people. |
| A．Live in harmony with nature. | B．Benefit from the Foundation. |
| C．Help bees survive with beekeepers. | D．Support the work of the Foundation. |
2 . After decades of work trying to save the giant panda, Chinese officials have announced the species is no longer endangered. The pandas have been reclassified in the country from endangered to vulnerable (易危的) after efforts to increase the population. Now the number has risen to 1,800 in the wild.
“China has established a relatively complete nature reserves system,” Cui Shuhong, director of the Department of Natural Ecological Protection of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Wednesday. “Large areas of natural ecosystems have been systematically and completely protected, and wildlife habitats have been effectively improved.” The latest classification upgrade reflects their improved living conditions and China’s efforts in keeping their habitats integrated, Cui added.
Bamboo makes up 90% of pandas’ diets, and the animals would likely starve without the shoots (竹笋). Experts believe China’s efforts to replant bamboo forests have been the key to the increase in the population of pandas. Generally speaking, a panda has to eat at least 26 pounds of bamboo every day to maintain its energy, so large areas of bamboo forests are primary to their survival.
Planting bamboo also has advantages for the planet, as the bamboo is grass, not a tree, and is incredibly efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide, as well as emitting (排放) 35% more oxygen than trees.
“The Chinese have done a great job in investing in panda habitats, expanding and setting up new reserves,” Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of conservation at the World Wildlife Fund, told the media. “They are a wonderful example of what can happen when a government is committed to conservation.”
Continuing China’s success will be dependent on the country protecting land from agricultural and urban development. As land becomes rarer, measures will need to be extended to protect more land, to ensure bamboo forests can thrive and as a result, protect the future of the world’s most lovable, lazy, and monochrome (black and white) creature.
1. What do we know about the giant panda according to paragraph 1?| A．It is an endangered species. | B．It increases by 1,800 each year. |
| C．It has seen a decline in population. | D．It has got a classification upgrade. |
| A．Social media makes a difference. | B．Panda habitats are getting smaller. |
| C．Government’s commitment is crucial. | D．Setting up new reserves is impossible. |
| A．Lazy and monochrome animals. |
| B．Lack of support from the World Wildlife Fund. |
| C．The emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. |
| D．The influence of agricultural and urban development. |
| A．A news report. | B．A educational journal. |
| C．A travel magazine. | D．A biology textbook. |
3 . The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by S02 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must care about the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. Why is our world becoming much smaller?| A．Thanks to the development of science. |
| B．Because of the rise in pollution. |
| C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night. |
| D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year. |
| A．Rubbish. | B．Water pollution. |
| C．Air pollution. | D．Noise pollution. |
| A．Because it’s bad for all living things in the world. |
| B．Because it makes much noise. |
| C．Because it has made our rivers and lakes dirty. |
| D．Because it makes us become angry more easily. |
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| B．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| C．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of S02. |
4 . My 5-year-old daughter Kai walked around a bus stop, picking up candy wrappers and plastic bottles and throwing them in the waste bin. We were a visiting family here, but she was cleaning the sidewalk, which didn’t shock me, nor was I
Our cleanup project began when we drove past an empty field one day and Kai
However, it seems we can never
Now Kai hopes to become a marine biologist to protect sharks one day. She still has many years to
The last time our family was at the beach, we still picked up plastic bottles. Most
| A．embarrassed | B．discouraged | C．concerned | D．frightened |
| A．apologized | B．confirmed | C．spotted | D．explained |
| A．loose | B．magic | C．processed | D．abandoned |
| A．trade | B．mistake | C．replace | D．change |
| A．pulled over | B．blew up | C．turned down | D．gave in |
| A．due to | B．ahead of | C．other than | D．instead of |
| A．official | B．serious | C．optional | D．regular |
| A．deliver | B．remove | C．track | D．produce |
| A．stress | B．comfort | C．anger | D．pride |
| A．mess | B．platform | C．court | D．house |
| A．scary | B．pleasant | C．historic | D．real |
| A．decide | B．struggle | C．survive | D．contribute |
| A．safe | B．giant | C．distant | D．sick |
| A．personally | B．memorably | C．technically | D．universally |
| A．promise | B．threat | C．reminder | D．favor |
5 . There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been hardest hit. Fires have torn through bushland (未开垦的丛林地带), wooded areas, and national parks. Some start and are controlled in a few days, but the biggest fires have been burning for months.
Each year there is a fire season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for fires to start and spread. Natural causes are responsible for fires most of the time, like lightning hits in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was to blame for starting a number of fires in late December, which then traveled more than 20 kilometers in just five hours. Humans can also be responsible. Police have charged(指控) at least 24 people with starting bushfires on purpose, and have taken action against 183 people for setting fire since November.
The fire season in Australia is always dangerous — the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually bad this year, making fires burn more strongly and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult. Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts over the years. Meanwhile, a heatwave in December broke the record for the highest nationwide average temperature, with some places under temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. Strong winds have also made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, and have led to deaths.
About half a billion animals have been affected by the fires across NSW, with millions possibly dead — and that’s lower than what is probably the real number. That number of total animals influenced could be as high as one billion nationwide. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of the places where they live have been destroyed.
Some animals, like koalas, aren’t in any immediate danger of extinction (灭绝) because they are spread out across the country. But others that live in more suitable environments with lower populations, including certain types of frogs and birds, could be destroyed entirely if their home is hit by the fires.
1. What do we know about fires in Australia?| A．They may last a long time. |
| B．They often happen in winter. |
| C．They only happen in NSW. |
| D．They are easily controlled in a few hours. |
| A．Big fire. |
| B．Strong wind. |
| C．Serious drought. |
| D．A period of hot weather. |
| A．They can run fast. |
| B．They live far and wide. |
| C．Their home is well protected. |
| D．They have a lower population. |
| A．Deadly bushfires affect the life of humans and animals. |
| B．Many causes have contributed to the bushfires in Australia. |
| C．Some species are endangered because of the frequent fires. |
| D．More firm measures should be taken to control the fires. |
6 . Every year, people all around the world come together to celebrate Earth Day with lots of different activities.Earth Day events typically have one theme in common:the desire to show support for environmental issues and teach future generations about the need to protect our planet.
The very first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. The event, which some consider to be the birth of the environmental movement, when spring comes, while avoiding most spring breaks and final exams.He hoped to call for college and university students for what he planned as a day of environmental learning and activism.
Participants (参与者) from 2, 000 colleges and universities, primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States got together in their local communities to mark the occasion of the very first Earth Day. Almost 20 million Americans filled the streets of their local communities on that first Earth Day.
Earth Day is now observed in 192 countries, and celebrated by billions of people around the world.Events can be found everywhere from tree planting activities at your local park to online Twitter parties that share information about environmental issues. In 2011, 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan by the Earth Day Network. In 2012, people rode bikes in Beijing to raise awareness about climate change and help people learn what they could do to protect the planet.
How can you get involved? The possibilities are endless. Pick up trash in your neighborhood. Make a commitment to reduce your food waste or electricity use. Plant a tree.Talk to your friends and family about environmental issues. The best part? Make every day Earth Day and help to make this planet a healthy place for all of us to enjoy.
1. From whom did Nelson hope to get support for his plan?| A．Teachers. | B．Officials. | C．Students. | D．Researchers. |
| A．Worldwide. | B．Successful. |
| C．Unique. | D．Messy. |
| A．Its challenge. | B．Its inspiration. |
| C．Its history. | D．Its influence. |
| A．Take specific action. | B．Reflect on our behavior. |
| C．Contribute good ideas. | D．Answer some questions. |
1. 露营造成的问题；
2. 爱护环境的倡议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(^)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
The environment pollution is more and more seriously today. We have no clean water to drink it because of water pollution. And when trees cut down, some animals disappear. There was more and more dirty smoke in the air. People’s health has been greatly affecting by air, noise and water pollution. Many people have died of disease caused by pollution. In order to live the better life, it’s time for us to protect our world.
Firstly, we shouldn’t throw away rubbish everywhere. And we should recycle, reduce and reuse things, what saves money and reduces pollution. Use things so long as possible. Don’t use plastic bags. Besides, we must plant more trees and stop people cut them down. We hope our world will be more and more beautiful.
9 . For every goal that Lesein Mutunkei scores, trees get planted. It’s a simple yet effective message that appeals, and leads to a satisfying way of motivating us to promote environmentalism in our own way.
Born in Nairobi, Lesein is in his late teens, and his Trees4Goals is the means with which he intends to make the world greener. It unites two of his passions in life: love of the outdoors and love of football. Lesein enjoyed walking in the forest. He recognised his country was experiencing a serious loss of tree cover. Between 2001 and 2020, Kenya lost an estimated 11% of trees, releasing 176 million tons of CO2.
In a blog post for WWF Kenya, Lesein revealed that, once he started the Trees4Goals initiative, he originally planned to plant one tree per goal. In 2020, he wanted to take his efforts even further. What started as one tree planted per goal mushroomed into 11 trees planted per goal. Explaining the reason behind expanding the tree-planting, he said, “It represents team efforts in football and the contribution by my team. I have planted over 1,000 trees in the last two years.”
While it’s something of an own goal to destroy the forests and jungles providing enormous biodiversity, initiatives like Trees4Goals are an assured way to score an environmentalist hat-trick. Sports such as football are popular with the booming Kenyan population and have the ability to cut through cultural barriers regardless of the countries they are played in. Sports have the power to unify and excite large audiences. Lesein Mutunkei has taken this strategy and scored a winning goal of his own.
Like a seed, best ideas start small and change into something that can become far larger than anticipated. While Lesein continues planting 11 trees per goal, the Kenyan government is aiming to plant 1.8 billion trees to reach a point where 10 per cent of the country is covered by trees. The science behind is clear; a report in 2019 claimed that if 900 million hectares were devoted to additional tree planting of half a trillion trees, the world could offset (抵消) half of all carbon emissions produced since 1960.
1. What gave Lesein the idea of launching the project?| A．Release of too much CO2. | B．His dream of motivating others. |
| C．His passion for sports and nature. | D．Habit of exercising in the woods. |
| A．He created a blog for WWF. | B．He set a higher aim. |
| C．He planted one tree for each goal. | D．He extended his work to other teams. |
| A．The aim that is intended to achieve. | B．Action that harms one’s own interests. |
| C．Pursuit of one’s personal success. | D．The goal that is scored for the opposing team. |
| A．United, we win. | B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．Love me, love my dog. | D．Small deeds, big difference. |
10 . Warm-blooded species are evolving (进化) to have larger beaks, legs and ears to regulate body temperature as the planet warms up, new study suggests. The scientists behind the study warn the physiological changes do not mean animals are coping with climate change. If animals fail to control their body temperature, they can overheat and die.
Some animals in warmer climates have historically evolved to have larger beaks or ears to get rid of heat more easily. A larger wing, ear or beak relative to body size gives smaller animals a greater surface area to lose excess heat. Several species of Australian parrot have shown a 4-10% increase in size since 1871, which correlates with the rising summer temperatures over the years, the study says.
The scientists do say it’s hard to put the climate as the only cause of shapeshifting, but that other examples of species changing show the effect of heat. Wood mice are evolving to have longer nails, masked shrews are getting longer tails and legs, and bats in warm climates have bigger wings. The study suggests that shapeshiting is likely to continue as the climate becomes warmer because higher temperatures will influence the demand on animals to regulate their body temperature.
“Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is fine,” Sara says. “It just means they are evolving to survive it, but we re not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or that all species are capable of changing and surviving. The climate change that we have created is heaping a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.”
1. Why the warm-blooded species are evolving to be larger?| A．To cope with climate change. |
| B．To regulate their body temperature. |
| C．To control their body temperature. |
| D．To grow up. |
| A．Change. | B．Evolve. | C．Relate. | D．Control. |
| A．Animals are coping with climate change. |
| B．Animals all are fine. |
| C．Animals are evolving to survive. |
| D．Animals are larger and larger. |
| A．Shapeshifting is caused by climate change. |
| B．All species are capable of changing and surviving. |
| C．Protect environment is very important. |
| D．Only the fittest can survive. |
