1 . 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. |
2 . 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
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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.
These days, we still need to wear masks because of COVID-19 when we go to some places like hospitals and supermarkets. It becomes a rule. We use lots of masks every day. But do you know a lot of them may end up on the streets, in the parks, or even in the rivers?
A company in Cornwall, Britain came up with a good idea to solve the problem.
Now in Cornwall, over 300 schools get these litter pickers.
6 . Recycling is a great way of doing your bit for the environment and helping to protect the earth’s precious resources. However, a new study has revealed that our desire to be sustainable maybe doing more harm than good. According to waste company Biffa, this is because of “wish-cycling” — assuming that items such as disposable coffee cup sand pizza boxes will be recycled if put in the recycling bin. In fact, pollution from those items or other non-recyclables can result in recyclable items that have been put in the correct bin going to landfill. David Heaton, a business director at Biffa, said: “Pollution happens when items are disposed of in the wrong bins or haven’t been cleaned before being recycled.”
Experts at Biffa analyzed the amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials that entered UK material recycling facilities between 2016 and 2020. It was found that, in 2016, the average pollution rate of recycling waste was 13.4 percent, rising over four years to 17 percent by the end of 2020. This shows that, even as people are becoming more eco-conscious, wish-cycling is increasing both in households and businesses.
The Biffa experts say that one of the best ways to prevent pollution of recycling is to clean recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. They suggest cutting off the top of old pizza boxes and only recycling that part to avoid pollution from the grease (油脂). Check the on-packaging recycling label to check it can actually be recycled When it comes to plastics, Biffa recommends checking the resin code, the number in the plastic triangle, to know whether it should go in the recycling bin. In general, resin codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not. Larger items, like electronics, furniture and batteries, can also be recycled but often can not go in household recycling bins as they need specialist separating. These will need to be taken to recycling centers or sustainable waste management companies.
“It’s vital as a nation that we get better at effective ‘pre-cycling’— sorting waste correctly before collection to reduce pollution rates,” added Mr. Heaton.
1. What’s the truth of “wish-cycling” according to the first paragraph?A.The desire to lead a sustainable life. |
B.The good intention to help recycling. |
C.The habit of throwing items that end up in landfills. |
D.The practice of recycling items that can not be recycled. |
A.People are becoming more eco-conscious. |
B.Wish-cycling is on the rise in recent years. |
C.Pollution happens less frequently in recycling facilities. |
D.People are used to cleaning recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. |
A.Dispose of electronics together with household waste. |
B.Skip the step of checking the on-packaging recycling label. |
C.Check the resin code of plastics to see whether it is recyclable or not. |
D.Cutoff the top of old pizza box and throw the rest to the recycling bin. |
A.Recycling: a Big Project | B.Wish-cycling: a New Trend |
C.Wish-cycling: a Growing Concern | D.Pre-cycling: an Effective Method |
7 . Our Earth’s oceans contain some of the most valuable resources. As the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions began to rise in popularity, the polluting of the Earth’s oceans did as well, leaving lifelong effects on all of its ecosystems.
Commercial whaling has left several whale species in danger of extinction. The blue whales of the Antarctic have less than one percent of their original numbers. Over 90 percent of plastic isn’t recycled, and a large part of that number finds its way into the ocean and surrounding beaches. The huge amount of plastic damages whales’ existence. Plastic is being eaten by sea life as well as entangling(缠住) them, putting them all at major risk. Without change, our Earth’s oceans will not be able to continue on for much longer.
The Delta Corporation was set up in 1972, later known as Ocean Conservancy. In the beginning years of Ocean Conservancy, its main initiative(倡议) was the Whale Protection Fund. This fund focused on saving the species and protesting against commercial whaling. They gained the support of many.
Ten years later, the International Whaling Commission finally banned commercial whaling. It then changed its focus to not only whales but to seals and sea turtles as well. Though they made great progress with these animals, they came to the conclusion that these animals cannot develop well without a healthy, sustainable environment. The workers of Ocean Conservancy then expanded their focus to the marine ecosystems and habitats.
Ocean Conservancy is one of several organizations working toward a common goal: saving the Earth’s oceans. They have started doing this by creating the Whale Protection movement that still exists. Though they have made significant progress throughout the years, there is still much to be done. Only when the common goal is shared by all groups, governments, and individuals, will real change be made. If successful, the electric bicycle meal program will be spread to all Crowne Plaza hotels in the UK, the hotel said in a statement.
1. What can we know about the plastic from Paragraph 2?A.Plastic reduces the population of whales to the least. |
B.Most of plastic ends up in oceans and sandy beaches. |
C.Plastic has become part of the sea animals’ diet. |
D.Recycling plastic is still a big challenge. |
A.A ban on whaling. |
B.Its improved concept. |
C.Its great achievement. |
D.The public support. |
A.Quite a few organizations have set their own goals. |
B.The days of Whale Protection movement are numbered. |
C.Ocean Conservancy’s work isn’t worth the praise. |
D.Saving the oceans is the shared responsibility of the whole world. |
A.Ocean Conservancy’s Target and Development |
B.Ocean Conservancy’s Contribution to Oceans’ Protecting |
C.A Solution to the Oceans’ Plastic Problems |
D.A Step Away from a Healthy Ecosystem |
Each year, we take more than 100 billion tons of natural materials from the earth
Since the 1860s, we
A circular economy
9 . The sighting of a new family of gray wolves in Oregon’s Cascade mountains has given wildlife protectors hope that the recovery of the endangered animal in the state is on the way. The state’s fish and wildlife department (部门) said a group of two adults and two babies was recorded by a track camera in August.
The wolves were found in the area of Warm Springs and officials have named it AKW — a new area of known wolf activity. If the group still has all four members surviving at the end of the year, the animals will be known as the Warm Springs group, the state’s third one in the northern Cascades. “Wolves will move to different places, but when we have resident wolves, like we know they’re sticking in that area, that’s when we create an AKWA to make sure the wolf count rise constantly.” the agency’s worker, Michelle Dennehy, told USA Today.
Many years of hunting of gray wolves almost made them die out across the nearby 48 US states by the middle of the last century. In Oregon at the end of 2009 only 14 wolves were known to exist. With protections from the Endangered Animals Act beginning in 1974, numbers have risen slowly since, to 175 in Oregon by the end of last year, living in more than 35 groups.
“I hope this will be an exciting new chapter in the story of wolf recovery in the state. Having more wolves establish families in western Oregon will be important for the long-term survival of these beautiful animals,” Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf protector at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
1. How did people find the gray wolves?A.By sighting their families. | B.By taking their pictures. |
C.By recording their voices. | D.By observing their tracks. |
A.It is created according to wolves’ species. | B.It aims to prohibit wolves’ moving around. |
C.It can help the increase of wolf population. | D.It will warn people to watch out for wolves. |
A.Add some background information. | B.Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
C.Offer solutions to wildlife protectors. | D.Show reasons of gray wolves’ hunting. |
Those who haven’t been to the Mu Us may not have an opportunity to do so. The desert is disappearing from
The Mu Us
However, the area was no desert in ancient times. It used to be grazing land
In modern times, the Mu Us, the fourth
Thanks to greening, the desert is poised to disappear. The feat(丰绩) wouldn’t have been achieved