1 . A new app promises to help Barcelona residents find the shadiest route between two places to avoid extreme heat.
Users can choose the most direct route, a shady route that may take a little longer, or they can set the app to a special mode, which avoids direct sunlight at all costs. Users can also use the app to find drinking fountains, or places to shelter from the sun.
The app uses a tool called Lidar to create high-resolution models of ground, accurate to within 10 cm. This information is combined with data on the sun’s path to work out where is in shade at any given time of the day.
Barcelona is looking to use green spaces and trees as part of its efforts to relieve the effects of global heating. The city’s 20-year tree planting plan aims to increase the proportion of land covered by trees from 25% to 30%.
Heatwaves kill more people than any other climate risk. According to C40,a climate leadership group made up of 97 cities around the world, extreme heat events in cities can lead to a 14% increase in death rates, as well as lower workforce productivity and damage infrastructure (基础设施) such as roads and rail lines.
Jon Burke, who was responsible for a massive expansion of tree planting in the district, said. “I think we should view this particular kind of app as a temporary measure to reduce the impacts of extreme heat... while cities rapidly invest in urban canopy (树冠层) cover and broader green infrastructure.”
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．The designer of the app. | B．The function of the app. |
| C．The potential users of the app. | D．The working principle of the app. |
| A．Predict. | B．Feel. | C．Consider. | D．Reduce. |
| A．The app is as a ever-lasting measure to reduce the effect of extreme heat. |
| B．Jon Burke was responsible for a large scale of tree planting. |
| C．The app stresses the importance of road construction. |
| D．The app warns people of more upcoming disasters. |
| A．The district needs to be expanded. |
| B．Jon Burke has a great sense of duty. |
| C．Investment in tree planting is a wise choice. |
| D．The app is powerful enough to cope with heatwaves. |
2 . When Purdue University researchers set out to develop a new paint, the goal was to create one that would reflect sunlight away from a building. It turns out they also set an official Guinness world record for the whitest paint on the planet.
“When we started this project about seven years ago, we had saving energy and fighting climate change in mind,” Professor Xiulin Ruan said.
The paint reflects 98.1% of solar radiation while also emitting infrared (红外线的) heat.
Because the paint absorbs less heat from the sun than it emits, a surface coated with this paint is cooled below the surrounding temperature without consuming power. Typical commercial white paint gets warmer rather than cooler, Paints on the market that are designed to reject heat reflect only 80%-90% of sunlight and can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings.
“Conventional air conditioners consume power that is often from burning fossil fuel. Meanwhile, while they move the heat from inside of a house to the outside, they turn the electricity into heat and leave even more heat to the surrounding and earth, further causing a heat island effect and warming up the Earth,” Professor Ruan told IFLScience.
“In contrast, our paint does not consume any power, and directly sends off all the heat to the deep space, thus helping cooling down the Earth. According to a previous model, painting 0.5-1% of the Earth’s surface (roofs, roads, cars, unused land, etc) with our paint will stop the warming trend. Painting many human made-structures would be a great way to fight the climate crisis in many ways. The paint is not yet available commercially and the scientists are working with a commercial company to speed up the paint production and put it on the market.
1. What’s the purpose of creating the whitest paint?| A．To make the street cleaner. |
| B．To help fight climate change |
| C．To remind people of climate warming. |
| A．It sets an official standard for the whitest paint on the earth. |
| B．It turns the light into heat and makes the houses much cooler |
| C．It makes whatever it’s painted on much cooler than its surroundings. |
| A．About 80%. | B．About 90%. | C．About 98.1%. |
| A．The World’s Whitest Paint |
| B．Paint the Earth White |
| C．A Wonderful Invention |
3 . Wild beavers (河狸) are back! Experts say that the wild beaver families are doing well. The beavers are even boosting wildlife and the environment!
Over ten years ago, a family of beavers turned up in a part of the river Otter, in Devon. No one knew exactly where they came from. It was a big surprise wild beavers hadn’t lived in England for around 400 years!
In 2015, the government allowed the beavers to stay there as part of a test. They wanted to see if these animals could be reintroduced to the wild. The test ends in February. Some scientists from the University of Exeter already say the beavers help the wildlife in the area. One scientist called it “an amazing story”.
A lot of this is because of dams (水坝). Beavers build dams along the river. This creates deep pools in the riverbed and slows the water down. Scientists say this is perfect for many different types of plants and animals! Many plants are growing near the beavers. Different types of animals are also becoming more and more in the river. Beavers also help make flooding less, scientists say. The beavers’ dams slow down the speed of the river, especially after heavy rain.
Beavers aren’t the only animals that are being reintroduced to the wild! In 2019, red squirrels were brought back to an area of the Scottish Highlands. Further away, the world's rarest (罕见的) duck, the Madagascar pochard, is making a comeback. It was set free into the wild on the African island in 2019 and is doing well.
Who knows what other animals might be making a comeback?
1. The underlined word “boosting”in Paragraph 1 probably means “______”| A．building | B．spreading | C．helping | D．creating |
| A．To reintroduce animals to the wild. |
| B．To introduce the beavers to the wild. |
| C．To build dams for the beavers in the river. |
| D．To grow more different plants along the river. |
| A．They help plants grow. | B．They eat up the plants. |
| C．They do harm to animals. | D．They bring heavy floods. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Worried. | B．Disappointed. | C．Tired. | D．Pleased. |
4 . All living things on Earth need water to live. Yet humans are facing serious water problems. According to the United Nations, today over 663 million people live without a safe water supply close to home.
To remind people of the importance of water, the UN first set up World Water Day in 1993. It is on Mar 22 each year. From Mar 22 to 28 is also the China Water Week. The first year’s theme is “Waste water”. It tried to call people to reuse waste water instead of wasting it.
In Australia people make good use of waste water. Most Australians have a grass lawn around their home instead of washing the car in the street. Many of them wash it on the lawn to keep the grass longer so that it covers the ground and reduce evaporation.
Rainwater may seem useless to you. But you can also reuse it. People in Germany collect rainwater to wash their toilets. Most houses in the country that are built in the last few years have rainwater collection devices (设备). Rainwater is collected from the root, and then linked to the toilet. But if you don’t have the device just put a bucket (桶) under your roof when it rains.
Water makes up 71 percent of Earth’s surface. But we can only use a very small part of it. Only about 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water. It’s in lakes, rivers and underground.
Over 80 percent of the w
aste water in the world goes back into the nature. It has not been cleaned and pollutes the rivers and lakes. Unsafe water makes around 842,000 people die each year.
By 2030, about half of the world’s population could be facing water problem. By 2050, as many as seven billion people across the world could not have enough water supplies. The world’s population might be 9.3 billion by then.
1. The China Water Week in 2017 tries to___________.| A．collect rainwater to wash their toilets |
| B．remind people of the importance of water |
| C．put a bucket under your roof when it rains. |
| D．call people to reuse waste water instead of wasting it. |
| A．sit down | B．cut down | C．put down | D．write down |
| A．To share his rich knowledge about water. |
| B．To warn more people to save water. |
| C．To show how water problems change the world. |
| D．To tell people how to discover safe water supply. |
| A．Water in the world has become less and less. |
| B．Unsafe water makes so many people die. |
| C．Our planet will face serious water problems. |
| D．Learning to save water to protect our planet. |
5 . A nighttime building fire in southern Taiwan Province that took hours to bring under control killed 46 people on Thursday. Officials in the city of Kaohsiung said at least 41 people were injured.
The fire started early Thursday morning local time. A statement by the fire department described it as “extremely fierce.” Flames and smoke poured from the lower floors as firefighters tried to control the fire.
The number of dead rose during the day as rescue workers searched the building which combined businesses and homes. By late afternoon, officials confirmed 32 people had died, while 14 people, who showed no signs of life, were among 55 taken to the hospital. In Taiwan, official confirmation of a death is made at the hospital.
Firefighters could be seen spraying water into the middle floors of the 13-floor building. One woman, who was not identified, said on Taiwanese television that her 60-to-70-year-old parents were still inside as rescue efforts continued. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that officials said the building’s age and waste blocking many areas made search and rescue efforts more difficult.
Many of the people living in the 40-year-old building were retired and lived alone in apartments as small as 13 square meters, local media reported. The building had 120 living spaces on the upper floors. It also had a closed movie theater, disused restaurants and karaoke businesses below them, the Central News Agency said. Mayor Chen Chi-mai said the building was partly abandoned.
The United Daily News, a major newspaper, said fire extinguishers(灭火器) had been put in place last month. But there were only three on each floor because the residents could not pay for more.
The fire appeared to have started on the ground floor. Investigators were examining a first-floor tea shop whose owner reportedly fought with his girlfriend the day before. They had not ruled out that the fire may have been set on purpose, The United Daily News reported.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
| A．No signs of life were found when rescuers came. |
| B．The exact number of victims could not be confirmed. |
| C．There are hidden dangers in the building itself. |
| D．The building is used for business and residential purposes. |
| A．the fire made lots of firemen in trouble |
| B．all the victims have been properly relocated |
| C．the accident caused many injuries and deaths |
| D．the local hospital has organized blood donations |
| A．Why was the building partly abandoned? |
| B．How do the residents live in the small apartments? |
| C．Why weren’t there enough fire extinguishers in the building? |
| D．What happened to those on the ground floor that morning |
| A．The waste in the building. |
| B．Narrow rescue space |
| C．Too many retired old people. |
| D．The TV station’s live broadcasting. |
6 . Suppose you find a bright yellow bike on a street corner in the city. You hop on (跨上) it and
You
The
Portland’s
| A．drive away | B．ride away | C．ride back | D．run away |
| A．No one | B．Someone | C．Anyone | D．Everyone |
| A．whether | B．so | C．because | D．though |
| A．have to | B．don’t have to | C．can’t | D．can |
| A．expensive | B．crowded | C．free | D．common |
| A．protect | B．control | C．make | D．bring |
| A．out of | B．into | C．up | D．near |
| A．ended | B．started | C．changed | D．refused |
| A．public | B．private | C．clean | D．dirty |
| A．but | B．as | C．until | D．or |
| A．next | B．last | C．best | D．first |
| A．break | B．make | C．discuss | D．follow |
| A．buy | B．repair | C．produce | D．steal |
| A．citizen | B．street | C．idea | D．school |
| A．looked up | B．made up | C．put up | D．set up |
注意：
1. 词数100左右。
Thoughts Upon the International Biodiversity Day
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up. “There’s a cyclone coming, Emily,” he called to his wife. “I’ ll go to look after the stock.” Then he ran towards the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.
Aunt Emily dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her about the danger close at hand. “Quick, Dorothy!” she screamed. ”Run for the cellar(地窖)!“ Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Emily, badly frightened, threw open the door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
Then a strange thing happened. The house circled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon. It was very dark, and the wind blew horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few twists and turns, and one other time when the house tipped(倾斜)badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle(摇篮).
At last she crawled over the swinging floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. In spite of the swinging of the house and the crying of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
1. What does the underlined word“cyclone”in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．飓风 | B．洪水 | C．怪兽 | D．地震 |
| A．To find the puppy Toto. | B．To find shelter from the cyclone. |
| C．To protect their fortune. | D．To get tools to help Henry. |
| A．She managed to control the house. | B．She found herself flying in a balloon. |
| C．She became a baby crying loudly. | D．She remained undisturbed with Toto. |
| A．Frightened. | B．Curious. | C．Calm. | D．Excited. |
Nowadays many people want to have a more interesting experience when arriving in a new city or country. Here are some better ways to travel, both for you and for the environment.
Get out of the car and walk.
If you have to take transport in a city, try to take public transport. Most cities now offer lots of information and very cleat maps about the public transport at the city’s websites.
10 . Can you survive an unannounced storm? Although there is expert broadcasting and we are equipped with cell phones, there’re still some instances(情况) when the violent weather takes us by surprise.
While most Atlantic hurricanes form off the coast of Africa giving plenty of early warning, sudden Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes form and move rapidly in less than a day’s time, endangering everyone and everything in their path.
Oil workers were trapped off the shore when sudden storms appeared. Natural scientists have been stuck in coastal areas without storm warning. Ten years ago a Texas National Guard group was trapped on the beach by rain-forced flooding and had to ride out(经受的住) a major hurricane during a training exercise. There’ve been a few instances when travelers were trapped on an island or in a coastal area and unable to escape in time.
Escaping from the storm-threatened areas is generally a choice for most of us—but not for all. Each year thousands of islanders across the Caribbean face the danger of hurricanes without so much as a public shelter to hide in. Most ride out the storm in their homes.
But there’re a few things you can do to prepare yourself for some unexpected emergencies. Being prepared for the unexpected may be your best and only defense. If you’re headed outdoors for a few days or weeks, you should always carry a flashlight (手电筒) with extra batteries, a Beidou device (装置), and a basic medical box. If you’re traveling in your car, remember you may suffer high winds. You’d better not stay inside to avoid being blown away along with your car. Keeping your head and your courage up is essential to survival in any type of danger. Let common sense guide you and always be prepared for the worst.
1. According to the text, most Atlantic hurricanes ________.| A．form in the Caribbean Sea | B．develop off the coast of Africa |
| C．come from Gulf of Mexico | D．are from the Pacific Ocean |
| A．People trapped by sudden storms. | B．The bad situations of oil workers. |
| C．The Texas National Guard group. | D．The danger of traveling on an island. |
| A．We can get through the storm because of the expert broadcasting. |
| B．Being prepared for the unexpected is likely to be our best and only defense. |
| C．Escaping from the storm-threatened areas is a choice for all of us in general. |
| D．We should stay inside the car to avoid being blown away in high winds. |
| A．To give some advice. | B．To encourage traveling. |
| C．To give some warnings. | D．To understand the danger of storms. |
| A．Science. | B．Sports. | C．Life. | D．Culture. |
