1 . Water conservation (保护) means using limited water supply wisely and caring for it properly. Since each of us depends on water to support life, it is our responsibility to learn more about water conservation and how we can help keep our sources pure and safe for generations to come. Below are some of the main reasons why it's important to conserve water.
It diminishes the effects of drought and water shortages. Even though our need for fresh water is always increasing because of population and industry growth, the supply we have stays the same. Even though water eventually returns to the Earth through the water cycle, it's not always returned to the same spot, or with the same quantity and quality. By reducing the amount of water we use, we can better protect against future drought years.
It guards against a series of social problems. Failing to conserve water, can eventually lead to a lack of water supply, which can have bad results. These include rising costs, reduced food supplies, health dangers, and even political conflict. Many fears have been expressed that water wars will occur in the future as water is becoming scarcer and scarcer (更稀缺的).
It helps to protect our environment. Reducing our water usage reduces the energy required to process water and deliver it to businesses, farms, and communities, which, in turn, helps to reduce pollution and conserve energy.
It builds safe and beautiful communities. Hospitals, gas stations, health clubs, gyms, and restaurants all require large amounts of water to provide services for communities. Reducing our usage of water means that these services can continue to be provided. Much of our fresh water can also be used for beautifying our surroundings — trees, flowers, vegetable gardens, as well as filling public fountains.
Water conservation requires effort, and every little bit helps. Don't think that what you do does not matter. We can all make changes in our lifestyles to reduce our water usage. The trick is making water conservation a way of life — not just something we think about once in a while.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly show?| A．Conserving water is very difficult. |
| B．Everyone should learn to conserve water. |
| C．Many people don't care about water waste. |
| D．Water shortage will influence the later generations. |
| A．Proves. | B．Reduces. |
| C．Examines. | D．Removes. |
| A．To explain what services need water the most. |
| B．To show water is widely used in our daily life. |
| C．To explain why people today love to conserve water. |
| D．To show conserving water benefits our communities. |
| A．Why Do Water Resources Become Scarcer? |
| B．How Can We Make Our World a Better Place? |
| C．Why Should We Conserve Water in Our Daily Life? |
| D．How Can We Conserve Water to Protect Our Earth? |
2 . Britain has long been known for its love of tea, but people in London also drink a lot of coffee. In fact, the average Londoner reportedly drinks 2.3 cups of coffee every day. And now, waste coffee grounds will be used to help fuel part of the city’s transportation system.
A technology company announced on Monday that some buses will be using a biofuel that contains coffee oil. The company, Bio-bean, and its partner, Argent Energy, say they have made enough coffee oil to power one of London’s famous double-decker buses for a year. The announcement made Bio-bean a trending story on social media.
The government agency Transport for London has been turning to biofuels to cut production of carbon emissions. A carbon emission is a gas produced by the burning of carbon. The gas is released into the atmosphere. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said last month that his city has a “health crisis….caused directly by poor-quality air.” The government has taken steps to discourage people from driving cars that do not meet European Union emissions requirements.
Bio-bean said Londoners produce over 200,000 tons of coffee ground waste a year. The company said it collects waste grounds from chain coffee shops and factories. The grounds are dried and processed to remove the coffee oil.
“It’s a great example of what can be done when we start to re-imagine waste as an untapped resource,” said Bio-bean founder’s Arthur Kay. The coffee fuel technology has been received support from the oil company Royal Dutch Shell.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Tea is very popular with British people. |
| B．Londoners love drinking coffee as well as tea at present. |
| C．Nowadays, Londoners prefer drinking coffee to drinking tea. |
| D．Waste coffee grounds will be made good use of in London’s transportation system. |
| A．Collecting waste coffee grounds |
| B．Cooperating with its partner, Argent Energy |
| C．Powering a double-decker bus using coffee oil |
| D．Making coffee oil out of coffee waste coffee grounds |
| A．Neutral. | B．Concerned. | C．Casual. | D．Appreciative. |
| A．The coffee fuel technology has earned wide-spread acceptance. |
| B．The Bio-bean is the first company to turn some wastes into bio-fuels. |
| C．The supply of coffee grounds waste in London is guaranteed in a way. |
| D．People have not attached importance to some so-called wastes widely. |
3 . Do you still remember the haze（雾霾）in the winter? So many people got terribly ill during or after the haze.
Spend less time outdoors.This is the most effective way for self-protection in such bad weather.With PM2.5 increasing 103mg per cubic meter,residents will risk a 2.29% increase of death,which experts found out in 2012.If you have to get out,avoid riding bicycles.
Close your windows.Experts advice residents to avoid opening windows at home.If you have to ,avoid the time when smog is at its densest（浓的）.
Smoke less.
| A．Wear masks. |
| B．Pay attention to other daily things. |
| C．Also avoid rush hours,when pollutants will be denser. |
| D．That’s because haze does harm to the health of people. |
| E．Cigarettes could cause more particulate matters,which are included in PM2.5 . |
| F．Take more fruits and vegetables instead,which are good for lung,spleen（脾）and kidney（肾）. |
| G．For residents who use air-conditioner,make sure your apartment has enough oxygen indoors. |
4 . Scientists think they have answered a mystery: How some ocean creatures got so huge so quickly.
A few million years ago, the largest whales, averaged about 15 feet long. Then seemingly overnight, one type of whale, the toothless baleen whale（须鲸类）became huge. Modern blue whales get as big as 100 feet. Nicholas Pyenson of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum said, “Why is that?” ”It happened in the glance of an evolutionary eye, which makes it harder to figure out what happened,” said Graham Slater, lead author of the study. Their study has suggested an answer: Ice ages in the last 3 to 5 million years started it, changing the oceans and food supply for whales.
The researchers used fossil records of the smaller whales to create a family tree for baleen whales which include blue whales, humpbacks and right whales. Using computer simulations（模拟）and knowledge about how evolution works, they concluded that when the size changes started, the poles got colder, ice expanded and the water circulation in the oceans changed and winds shifted, Slater and Pyenson said cold water went deep and moved closer to the equator(赤道）and then eventually moved back up with small fish and other small animals that whales eat.
Baleen whale, which have no teeth, feed by eating huge amounts of fish they capture. Toothed whales, like sperm whales (抹香鲸), hunt individual fish, so the ocean chants that made food less evenly spread out didn’t affect them as much. But baleen whales hunt schools of fish.
Olivier Lambert at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences calls it “a really convincing situation”. But he said the lack of fossils in certain time periods is an issue. As oceans warm from man-made climate change, the seas will be more like it was when the whales smaller and they will have a more difficult time surviving.
1. What does the author mean by “It happened in the glance of an evolutionary eye” in the second paragraph?| A．The change of baleen whales happened too quickly. |
| B．The change of baleen whales was too difficult to explore. |
| C．Researchers paid little attention to the change of baleen whales. |
| D．Researchers thought the change of baleen whales was unimportant. |
| A．Man-made climate change. |
| B．Its eating a huge amount of fish. |
| C．The water circulation in the oceans. |
| D．The increase of food supply for whales. |
| A．Sperm whales eat more food. |
| B．Blue whaler live much longer. |
| C．Sperm whales prefer to hunt schools of fish. |
| D．Blue whales usually swallow schools of fish. |
| A．There are no whale fossils now. |
| B．The whales may become even bigger. |
| C．Global warming has threatened the whales. |
| D．Olivier Lamber thinks the study is perfect. |
A new bill has been
Over the past decades, the Philippines
In fact, this isn’t the only positive rule
We are all aware of the threats our planet is facing. Experts agree that it’s mainly humans
One of the most destructive activities we are carrying out is deforestation (砍伐森林). This has been most noticeable in Brazil, which is home to the world’s
The amount of deforestation in the Amazon has
7 . 
“What kind of rubbish are you?” This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it has brought about complaints over the past week. On July 1st, the city introduced strict trash-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for our country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate kinds and put it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure compliance（服从）and to inquire into the nature of one’s rubbish.
Violators face the possibility of fines and worse. They could be hit with fines of up to 200 yuan ($29). For repeat violators, the city can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to obtain bank loans or even buy train tickets.
Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9 million tonnes of garbage a year, more than London’s annual output and rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sort out the waste, picking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. China produces 80 billion pairs of disposable(一次性的)chopsticks a year.
Many residents appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are frustrated by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or hazardous（有害的）, the differences among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules surrounding food waste. They must put it straight in the required public bin, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss it by hand. Most upset are the short windows for throwing trash, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out; no one wants to look bad.
1. What does the underlined word “Violators” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．People who don’t sort the waste. |
| B．People who argue with the monitors. |
| C．People who don’t throw the trash on time. |
| D．People who are against the regulations. |
| A．The massive traffic. | B．The increasing garbage. |
| C．Lack of a recycling system. | D．Lack of trash pickers. |
| A．Complex distinction among the four categories of trash. |
| B．Short scheduled time for throwing the trash. |
| C．Being observed by monitors when throwing the garbage. |
| D．Being fined when blamed due to improper behavior. |
| A．A Restart of Trash-sorting | B．A Great Change in Tackling Litter |
| C．New Times of Garbage Classification | D．A Craze for Learning Waste Sorting |
8 . We don’t know when and where the next earthquake will hit. But we do know the importance of safety and preparation. The only way to be ready for the unexpected is to prepare ahead of time. It’s especially important if you live in earthquake zones. So here are some important steps to build your own Earthquake Action Plan.
1. Talk to your friends and families and decide on a place to meet if you’re separated after an earthquake.
2. Make an emergency（紧急情况）communication plan in case cell towers or phone lines are down. You can also ask relatives or friends outside your area to be your contacts.
3. Locate a safe place in every room of your house and discuss with your families the safest places to be during an earthquake. Remember, if you’re：
a. Inside, get under something heavy like a study table or against an inside wall and cover your head.
b. Outside, stay away from buildings and get out into the open.
c. In your car, stop and stay in your seat. If you’re stopped near a building or under an overpass（天桥），try to safely move away from it.
4. Store first-aid kits（急救箱）anywhere you spend a lot of time（house, car, workplace, etc. ）.
5. Pack plenty of batteries, flashlights, and bottles of water to prepare for power outages and water shortages.
6. Review your home’s important systems（electrical, gas, water, etc. ）and know how to operate them or shut them off in an emergency.
Although they’re somewhat unusual, earthquakes are incredibly terrible, overwhelming, and unpredictable forces of nature. But with some knowledge and preparation, we can mitigate risks and do the best we can to keep ourselves and our families safe.
1. Paragraph 1 mainly shows it’s very important to ______.| A．know the use of an Earthquake Action Plan |
| B．know when an earthquake will come |
| C．stay away from earthquake zones |
| D．prepare for an earthquake |
| A．that are very safe |
| B．where you often stay |
| C．that are under something heavy |
| D．that your friends and families know |
| A．deciding where to meet with others after an earthquake |
| B．making sure that you have contacts out your area |
| C．practicing how to escape with your families |
| D．finding safe places in your house |
| A．Lower. | B．Avoid. |
| C．Stop. | D．Treat |
9 . With the advance of human society, along with the development of modern science and technology, people are faced with an increasing number of pollutions. One of the severe pollutions is noise pollution. Many parents express their complaints over noise pollution, especially car alarms.
Anchor
Almost anyone who has lived in a big city can tell you how irritating it is to be awakened in the middle of the night by the wail of a car alarm. The loss of sleep can drive you crazy, but this is just one in a long list of problems that such high decibel noises can cause.
Jonathan
People in this noisy neighborhood in upper Manhattan are fed up with car alarms. They're angry enough at being jolted awake several times a week, but more than that they worry about what effect these alarms will have on their children. Already studies have shown that continuous exposure to high-decibel noise can cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
Andrea
By the time my child can read, he will already have been exposed to the constant roar of the traffic, but the intense siren of a car alarm is way above the level of safety.
Michael
I have a valid concern. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), exposure to noise above 85 decibels for 8 hours or more is a danger to your health. City traffic and trucks are about 90 decibels. The siren of a car alarm is about 120 decibels, about the same as a plane taking off.
The parents here are sick and tired of listening to the shrill siren of car alarms. However, it's for their children that they are most concerned. They've started a group called Parents to Silence Car Alarms. They don't think that making the owner of a car pay a fine is enough. These parents have started a campaign to have car alarms banned.
1. According to the passage, which one of the following statements is true?| A．Anchor thinks the high decibel noises only causes the loss of sleep. |
| B．Jonathan holds the view that exposure to decibel noises can give rise to heart disease. |
| C．According to NIOSH, exposure to noise above 85 for 8 hours or more threatens people's health. |
| D．Andrea believes the intense siren of a car alarm is acceptable. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Critical. | C．Favorable. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．People in modern society is faced with noise pollution. |
| B．Anyone who lives in a big city is tired of car alarms. |
| C．A car alarm is out of control and beyond the level of safety. |
| D．Parents complain about car alarms, trying to fight against them. |
10 . 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,
Man has been polluting the earth.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it.
| A．The more people，the more pollution. |
| B．One of the biggest is pollution. |
| C．Air pollution is still the most serious. |
| D．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| E．That means keeping the land，water and air clean. |
| F．I hope scientists can find ways to solve the serious problem. |
| G．Strange diseases have appeared in some places because of pollution. |
