1 . Two and a half months before the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins, forecasters have already predicted and warned that warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and the development of a La Niña in the Pacific may create a “perfect storm” of the conditions needed for major hurricanes.
Key to the formation of any tropical cyclone (气旋) is the combination of warm ocean temperatures and the absence of what is known as wind shear (风切变). Alex DaSilva, a forecaster, explains that wind shear occurs when wind changes direction and speed at different heights in the atmosphere. When there’s much wind shear, it essentially knocks down those clouds and prevents tropical systems from really intensifying. Besides, hurricanes also need surface water to be at a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius or higher. That warm water, and the warm air just above it, provides fuel for the storm. The record data for February are 1.2 degrees Celsius above normal.
Over periods ranging from three to seven years, the waters of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean alternately (交替地) warm and cool as a result of a repeatedly occurring climate pattern called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During an El Niño, sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific increase, and those warmer temperatures affect the path of the Pacific jet stream, which in turn brings drier, warmer weather to the northern United States and Canada, and wetter conditions to the Gulf Coast of Mexico and southeast. El Niño reduces the possibility of Atlantic hurricane formation because it lowers hurricane activity and increases wind shear. La Niña has just the opposite effect of El Niño. During the 2023 season, ENSO was in an El Niño phase. By the time the 2024 season starts, it is likely to have shifted fully into a La Niña.
“If a tropical storm system comes into this area, it could rapidly intensify, potentially close to land,” DaSilva cautions. “And that’s why people need to be on alert and have their hurricane plans ready. Because any system with these kinds of conditions can explode very quickly. That’s what we’re concerned about.”
1. Where can you probably read this article?| A．https://www.thecut.com/culture/ |
| B．https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports |
| C．https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/ |
| D．https://www.smithsonianmag.com/category/innovation/ |
| A．Dying down. | B．Falling away. | C．Breaking down. | D．Becoming stronger. |
| A．Generate less wind shear. | B．Bring more rainfall to the Gulf Coast. |
| C．Block the path of the Pacific jet stream. | D．Cause higher temperature in Canada. |
| A．To remind people to get prepared. | B．To report the Atlantic hurricanes. |
| C．To compare El Niño and La Niña. | D．To introduce some geographic knowledge. |
Balancing Trees and CO2
Tree planting used to be regarded as an effective means of reducing climate change. Perhaps it’s time for us to rethink this practice. Trees pull CO2 from the air. This effectively removes CO2 from the atmosphere. But trees only hold onto CO2 as long as they’re alive. Once they die, trees decay (腐烂) and release that CO2 back into the atmosphere.
Recent studies have found that trees around the world are growing faster than ever. The rise of CO2, mainly due to burning fossil fuels, is probably driving that rapid growth, said Roel Brienen, a forest ecologist at the University of Leeds, UK. High levels of CO2 are increasing temperatures, which in turn speeds tree growth in those areas, he added.
The faster trees grow, the faster they store carbon. It seems like good news. However, it is known that fast-growing tree species, in general, live shorter lives than their slow-growing relatives.
In order to see whether the growth-lifespan trade-off (生长与寿命之间的权衡) is a universal phenomenon, Brienen and his colleagues analyzed over 210,000 individual tree ring records of 110 tree species from more than 79,000 sites worldwide. They found that, in almost all habitats and all sites, faster-growing tree species died younger than slow-growing species, and even within a species, the trade-off between growth and life span held strong.
The team also created a computer program that modeled a forest and tweaked (微量调整) the growth of the trees in this model. Early on, it showed that “the forest could hold more carbon as the trees grew faster”, Brienen reported. But after 20 years, these trees started dying and losing this extra carbon again. “We must understand that the only solution to bringing down CO2 levels is to stop emitting (排放) it into the atmosphere,” said Brienen.
1. What does “this practice” in Para.1 refer to?2. Why are trees around the world growing faster than ever?
3. Read the following statement, underline the false part of it and explain the reason. The team has found that the faster trees grow, the faster they store CO2, and the longer lives they live.
4. Please briefly present what you can do in daily life to reduce the emission of CO2.（about 40 words）
3 . Every day as the sun rises, Ma Hongyi, a 66-year-old farmer, can be seen patrolling (巡逻) Yuncheng Salt Lake with his dog in Yuncheng city, North China’s Shanxi province.
Ma still remembers the day when he first saw two big pink birds wandering through the water. “I had never seen such pretty birds. They were even taller than me, with long wings,” Ma recalls. He was later informed that birds were flamingos, a rare sight in China, which were listed on the International Union for Protection of Nature’s red list of endangered species in 2013. From that day on, Ma started his second career as a volunteer to prevent human beings from interfering with the wildlife. “The birds are attracted by the good environment,” Ma says. “I will do my best to protect the lake so that birds can come here every year.”
Yuncheng Salt Lake covers an area of 132 square kilometers and used to serve as a salt production base. As the country began attaching greater importance to environmental protection, an ecological protection and development center was set up in 2012 to carry out regular ecological protection and restoration of the lake. “The greatest value of the Salt Lake lies in its ecology, which should be properly restored and protected,” says Chu Xianghao, mayor of the city. The lake area hosts 292 types of wild animals, along with 782 plant varieties, some of which are newly recorded species in the country.
After patrolling the lake as volunteer for over four years, Ma was employed by the local government to help with wildlife protection in 2019. “The lake’s ecology is getting better,” Ma says, adding that he looks forward to the arrival of the flamingos every year. “Some of them are my old friends,” he says.
1. Why does Ma patrol Yuncheng Salt Lake every day?| A．To admire the scenery around the lake. | B．To observe the rare flamingos closely. |
| C．To volunteer as a keeper of the lake. | D．To come across the flamingos again |
| A．bringing benefits to | B．causing problems to |
| C．breathing life into | D．getting rid of |
| A．The protection of its ecology is of great importance. |
| B．The restoration of it will be carried out soon. |
| C．It is still used as a salt production base. |
| D．It’s home to 292 types of endangered wildlife. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Generous. | C．Responsible. | D．Humorous. |
4 . Plastic is everywhere in our modern world. Its toughness makes it an extremely useful material from household items to vehicle parts, but that same toughness makes it hard to break down for recycling or disposal (处理). However, Japanese scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a new plastic material that can be broken down more easily and can self-heal and remember past shapes.
Based on a kind of plastic called an epoxy resin vitrimer, which is brittle (脆性的), the new plastic has a huge range of advantages. Once scratched (刮划) with a knife, it can completely patch itself up after being heated to 150 ℃ for just 60 seconds. When shaped into the shape of a crane, then flattened, it can fold itself back into the crane shape by being heated up. It does all of this much faster than others of its type.
The new plastic can also break down easier. Even if it’s thrown into the environment, it still has less of a problem than other kinds of plastic, which the team demonstrated by placing it in seawater for 30 days. It biodegraded (生物降解) by 25% and released something that is eatable for ocean life.
The new plastic is more resistant to breaking. It can also repair itself, and can recover its original memorized shape. It even biodegrades safely in a ocean environment, according to Shota Ando, a researcher of the study.
The material can be used in a variety of applications. “Building materials for roads and bridges are often composed of epoxy resins mixed with compounds (化合物) such as concrete and carbon,” said Ando. “By using the new plastic, these would be easier to maintain as they would be stronger and healable using heat. Unlike conventional epoxy resins, this new material is hard but flexible, so it could also be expected to strongly bond materials of different hardness and stretch.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of the text. | B．To show the disadvantages of plastic. |
| C．To highlight the importance of plastic. | D．To show his views on previous plastic. |
| A．Change itself. | B．Destroy itself. | C．Repair itself. | D．Burn itself. |
| A．It is safe for animals in the ocean. | B．It is made up of concrete and carbon. |
| C．It can change its shape when frozen. | D．It is more brittle than previous plastic. |
| A．How to Make a New Plastic | B．An Interesting Scientific Study |
| C．The Widespread Application of Plastic | D．A New Environmentally Friendly Plastic |
April told Bailey as they walked home from school that she just wanted a normal birthday party this year. Bailey understood what April meant because April’s parents loved the environment. And since April happened to be born on Earth Day, all her birthday parties had an Earth Day theme.
Bailey remembered when April turned seven, mentioning the “Garage Sale” event where they helped out at sales and donated the money to charity. When April turned eight, it was a “Tree Planting” where they planted maples. Bailey also recalled last year when they collected newspapers to recycle, calling it the “Paper Drive,” to which April sighed, though Bailey giggled and thought it was fun.
Later that night, when having supper, April expressed her desire to plan her own party this year. Her mom suggested they could have a “Recycling Party,” and her dad thought it was a great idea. April then cleared her throat and said she would like to go to the entertainment park instead. Her dad was surprised, but her mom said they could arrange to send the kids there.
April couldn’t wait for her birthday. She and her friends would have so much fun, and they wouldn’t have to think one bit about the Earth.
The next day at school, April told her friends that she was having her birthday party at the entertainment park. Josie was surprised, remarking that they always did something relating to earth on her birthday. Tyler remembered the little snake they found two years ago. April acknowledged this but explained that this year they wouldn’t even be going outside, which left Tyler a bit disappointed.
The following weekend, everyone gathered in the parking lot outside the entertainment park. April thanked her friends for coming and expressed her excitement about the party, noting there would be no cleaning, no collecting recyclables, and nothing relating to earth. However, as she looked around, she noticed the parking lot was a mess, with plastic bottles thrown across the ground, newspapers and fast-food bags blocking the storm drain, and shopping bags blowing in the trees.
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。
“What a mess!” April frowned.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________April looked at the collected rubbish and smiled.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Most people suffer from what is known as “Just-me-ism”. What is that? Well, say you leave the tap running while you brush your teeth, leave a light on when you go out or you drop a piece of litter (垃圾) and can’t be bothered to pick it up. You know that all those things are wrong. But so what? “What difference can it possibly make?” you say to yourself. There are millions of people in the world and I’m just me. How can it matter if I leave one little tap running, one little light on or leave a little piece of litter on the road? “And anyway, no one will know,” Of course, it wouldn’t matter if there were just a few people in the world. But just think of all the millions of people saying to themselves: “It doesn’t matter. It’s just me. And, anyway, no one knows.” Millions of gallons of water would be wasted; millions of lights would be left on; millions of pieces of litter would be dropped. And all of this would be very harmful.
To inspire young people to take action for the environment, animals and their community, Roots & Shoots was established. This institute was set up in the early 1990s by Dr. Jane Goodall, a scientist who’s the world’s best-known expert on wild chimpanzees (黑猩猩). In addition to her research, she has been whole-heartedly committed to environmental protection, the whole purpose of Roots & Shoots is to educate young people, from preschoolers to university students, so they can help to build a future that is secure and live together in peace with nature. The organization is called Roots & Shoots because roots (根) move slowly under the ground to make a firm (坚实的) foundation, and shoots seem small and weak, but they can break open brick walls to reach the light. The roots and shoots are you, your friends and young people all around the world. Hundreds and thousands of roots and shoots can solve the problems, change the world and make it a better place to live in.
Do you think you help to make the world a better place when you make a sad person smile, when you make a dog wag (摇摆) its tail, and when you water a thirsty plant? One cheered-up person, one happy dog, one flowering plant, and you. That’s what Roots & Shoots is all about: the value and importance of each individual — human, animal or plant. Dr. Jane Goodall believes that the most important thing is that: “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. You get to choose: Do you want to use your life to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment? Do you want to make Roots & Shoots rooted in everyone’s heart? Do you want to be a part of a community for a shared future? You cannot be absent.”
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．I can do whatever I like and nobody knows. |
| B．I’m unique and no one realizes it. |
| C．I’m lonely. And, no one in the world knows me. |
| D．This is who I am. And, I don’t want people to know me. |
| A．establish Roots & Shoots |
| B．educate people to build a safer future |
| C．commit to environmental protection |
| D．guide young people to create a future in harmony with nature |
| A．All the people. | B．The youth. | C．Adults. | D．Our friends. |
| A．Wait-and-see. | B．Skeptical. | C．Admiring. | D．Encouraging. |
| A．To introduce Roots & Shoots. |
| B．To point out the disadvantages of “Just-me-ism”. |
| C．To call on young people to join Roots & Shoots. |
| D．To call people to pay more attention to animals and plants. |
1. How much rubbish have people created in Britain this year?
| A．416 million tons. | B．404 million tons. | C．400 million tons. |
| A．Britain is the most wasteful country in the world. |
| B．People who live on their own create more rubbish. |
| C．The rubbish problem is not so serious as scientists think. |
| A．People don’t like to use rubbish bags. |
| B．The rubbish always gives out a bad smell. |
| C．People’s incorrect behavior makes recycling difficult. |
| A．To criticize rich families for producing so much rubbish. |
| B．To call on people to find ways to deal with the rubbish problem. |
| C．To explain why people pay little attention to the rubbish problem. |
8 . Part of the reason American shoppers are so attracted to wholesale shopping is their belief that it not only prevents waste but can save time and money, providing more value for the dollar. However, recent research suggests that the opposite may be true.
Victoria Ligon, an expert on consumer sciences, studied food purchasing habits of consumers and found that people tended to buy too much food and waste more of it than they realized. “The problem is that people are not shopping frequently enough,” Ligon said, “People are very price sensitive at the grocery store, but tend to fail to notice the cost of unused and wasted food at home.”
A common practice is to visit different stores for different items on a grocery list, “But people tend to overbuy at each of the places,” Ligon said. “People are not planning for the next day, but planning for the next week or two.”
“In theory, planning a week or more in advance sounds ideal. But given the reality of many people’s lives, this is challenging to do well,” Ligon said. “All of our food promotions are designed to get people to buy more. We believe it’s cheaper if we buy more now, but we rarely take into account how much we throw out in the end.”
Ligon noted shifts in the grocery industry that appear promising to help customers reduce food waste. Examples include cost-effective delivery services such as Amazon Fresh and Google Express, which allow consumers to purchase food items when they want to consume them, also reducing their need to frequent so many different stores. However, the study resulted in another troubling finding: The majority of people involved in the study had no idea that they were buying too much and wasting so much.
“When you read advice about reducing waste, it usually centers on what people do after the food is purchased,” Ligon said. “But more importantly, shop on a more frequent basis, so that you are only buying what you are going to consume in the short term.”
1. What do people often ignore when buying food in large quantities?| A．How good the food is. | B．How much will be wasted. |
| C．How much the food costs. | D．How often they should shop. |
| A．It is worth trying. | B．It is not practical. |
| C．It takes great effort. | D．It is not good for health. |
| A．Food prices are lowered. | B．Food waste is prevented. |
| C．Food consumption is reduced. | D．Food purchasing can be done at home. |
| A．Shop More, Buy Less | B．Shop Wisely, Eat Wisely |
| C．Consume More, Waste Less | D．The More You Shop, the More You Waste |
9 . What is sustainable travel? Traveling sustainably means being aware of the impact of tourism on the environment and following good practices to reduce the negative effects. Planet Earth has limited resources and mass tourism puts their existence at risk.
Let’s find out a few easy ways to travel in an eco-friendly way.
Stay in eco-friendly accommodations.
From renewable energy production to bio-architecture, eco-friendly accommodations focus on preserving the environment and have positive environmental effects.
Take public transportation.
Interaction with locals is one of the most rewarding things about sustainable travel and preserves traditions passed down from generation to generation. It is essential to respect traditions as they form the identity of the local community and create a sense of unity among people.
Say NO to single-use plastics.
Saying NO to single-use plastics reduces pollution. The production of plastics uses fossil fuels(化石燃料) and therefore releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
| A．However, this is not all. |
| B．Buy from and support local businesses. |
| C．Respect the culture of local communities. |
| D．Therefore, sustainable travel is a way to preserve nature. |
| E．Traveling slow allows you to enjoy the scenery along the way. |
| F．This practice helps reduce air pollution and improve traffic flow. |
| G．In addition, numerous plastics end up in oceans every year, threatening sea life. |
10 . After a week of talks in Canada, negotiators (谈判者) from 170 countries have a “clear path to landing an ambitious deal” on plastic pollution at a final round of negotiations in South Korea in November, Inger Andersen, executive director of the U. N. Environment Programme, said in a statement.
“The work, however, is far from over,” she added. “Some countries continue to block a crucial measure: a global limit on the production of new plastic, which is essential to control pollution.”
Plastic is made from fossil fuels, and major oil and natural gas producers like Russia and Saudi Arabia have been widely criticized for throwing up roadblocks in the negotiations in order to protect future profits. However, scientists and environmentalists say the United States also bears a lot of blame. The country is the top producer of oil and gas globally, and it has the world’s biggest economy, which has historically given the U. S. huge power in environmental negotiations.
Critics say American negotiators haven’t been willing to push for a global cap (限额) on plastic production, and are instead throwing their weight behind measures like recycling that are favored by the country’s fossil fuel and petrochemical industries.
Erin Simon, head of plastic waste and business at the World Wildlife Fund who attended the talks in Canada, says the U. S. and a lot of other countries are brainstorming and trying to come up with creative solutions to meet everybody’s needs as best as possible.
The State Department has said that for an agreement to be effective, it needs to be supported by every country, including nations that are major producers of fossil fuels and plastics. More than 50 countries now say they want an agreement to include targets for reducing plastic production.
“The drumbeat to reduce plastic production is growing from countries worldwide,” Ana Rocha, the director of global plastics policy in Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, said in a statement. “More and more leaders are waking up to what the science and our lived experiences tell us: plastic is pollution, and we need to stop it where it starts.”
1. What is the key to controlling plastic pollution according to Inger Andersen?| A．Limiting the use of second-hand plastic. |
| B．Raising people’s environmental awareness. |
| C．Reducing the worldwide production of plastic. |
| D．Passing laws to regulate the disposal of waste plastic. |
| A．Stopping producing plastic. | B．Sharing quality plastic. |
| C．Forbidding using plastic. | D．Recycling used plastic. |
| A．All countries’ support. | B．The shared laws. |
| C．Everyone’s permission. | D．Creative solutions. |
| A．Plastic production is reducing all the time. |
| B．The plastic pollution should be handled technically. |
| C．People’s awareness of reducing plastic pollution is increasing. |
| D．More leaders realize lived experiences can help handle plastic pollution. |
