1 . Scientists often compare coral reefs(珊瑚礁) to underwater rainforests, yet unlike the leafy plant base of a forest, corals are animals. The soft creatures are naturally half-transparent and get their brilliant color from algae(藻类) living inside them. When corals experience stress from hot temperatures or pollution, they halt the interdependent relationship with algae, typically pushing them out and turning white. Corals are still alive when they are white, but they're at risk and many eventually die, turning dark brown.
Scientists around the world are looking for means to protect and maybe increase corals. One common option is to create more protected areas — essentially national parks in the ocean. Beyond nature preserves, some conservationists are looking to more hands-on methods. One research center in the Florida Keys is exploring a form of natural selection to keep corals remaining. The reef system in the Keys has been hit hard by climate change and pollution, which is especially tough, because corals there help support fisheries worth $ 100 million every year.
To keep the wild ecosystem alive, Erinn Muller, the center's director, and her team are harvesting samples of the corals that survived the environmental stress naturally, keeping them to make them reproduce, and then reattaching them to the reef. They have 46,000 corals on plastic frames under the sea. So far, the center has regrown over 70,000 corals from five different species on damaged reefs.
In The Bahamas, Ross Cunning, a research biologist at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, focuses on corals with genes that could make them natural candidates for restoration projects. He published a study of two Bahamian reefs, one that survived an extreme 2015 heat wave, and one that didn't. "We think their ability to deal with these higher temperatures is built into their genes," says Cunning. There's evidence of corals evolving more quickly to resist rapidly warming climate. The big question scientists need investigate, adds Gunning, is how much more heat corals can adapt to.
1. What does the underlined word "halt" in the first paragraph mean?| A．End. | B．Develop. | C．Strengthen. | D．Weaken. |
| A．Restore the damaged reefs. | B．Grow corals by hand underwater. |
| C．Create more protected areas. | D．Move corals to unpolluted areas. |
| A．Many corals have been genetically improved. | B．Cooling down the waters is key to rescuing corals. |
| C．Reasons for corals surviving heat waves are shocking. | D．The highest temperature corals can survive is unclear. |
| A．Relationship between corals and algae | B．Efforts made to save corals |
| C．Impact of climate warming on corals | D．Survival crisis faced by coral reefs |
2 . One of the tallest wooden buildings in Europe, a 98m timber (木材)mixture skyscraper, is to rise in Berlin.
The 29-storey WoHo tower, to be designed by a firm of Norwegian architects, is intended to be a “light-house project” for low-carbon construction, towering over Potsdamer Platz and the Landwehr Canal.
Its core, including lifts and a staircase, is to be built around concrete structure but the rest of the building, including flats, offices, cafes and a kindergarten, will be fashioned down wooden beams (横梁)and panels.
“As Norwegians, we are used to working a lot with timber,” Nicolai Riise, CEO of the Mad Architects' Practice said.
“The thing about timber is that its carbon footprint is close to zero and that it's a fantastic material to build with. If you look at this in a broader way, it's one of the ways we are going to be able to beat the climate crisis.”
Wooden skyscrapers, once regarded as a pipe dream, have become realistic with the coming of cross-laminated (交叉叠合)building techniques and more flexible planning laws. Because these structures' parts are fit with care, they can be far lighter than their concrete equivalents (同等物)and are thought to be relatively resistant to fire. A cubic meter of wood can also take an estimated ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Larger wooden structures are planned elsewhere. London is examining blueprints for a 300-meter Oakwood Tower. A project in Tokyo could rise to 350m.
1. What is special about the WoHo Tower?| A．It will serve as a light house. |
| B．Its core is to be built with timber. |
| C．It is designed for a Norwegian firm. |
| D．It will be a tall timber mixture building. |
| A．It is a flexible material. | B．It is easy to collect. |
| C．It is environmentally-friendly. | D．It can be cut into pieces. |
| A．A nightmare. | B．Something practical. |
| C．A piece of cake. | D．Something impossible |
| A．Flexible ideas. | B．The concrete equivalents. |
| C．Fire resistant materials. | D．New building techniques. |
3 . One of the tallest wooden buildings in Europe, a 98m timber(木材) mixture skyscraper, is to rise in Berlin.
The 29-storey WoHo tower, to be designed by a firm of Norwegian architects, is intended to be a “light-house project” for low-carbon construction, towering over Potsdamer Platz and the Landwehr Canal.
Its core, including lifts and staircase, is to be built around steel-reinforced(加固) concrete structure but the rest of the building, including flats, offices, cafes and a kindergarten, will be fashioned down wooden beams(横梁) and panels.
“As Norwegians, we are used to working a lot with timber.” Nicolai Riise, CEO of the Mad Architects' Practice said.
“The thing about timber is that its carbon footprint is close to zero and that it's fantastic material to build with. If you look at this in a broader way, it's one of the ways we are going to be able to beat the climate crisis.”
Wooden skyscrapers, once regarded as a pipe dream, have become realistic with the coming of cross-laminated-(交叉叠合) building techniques. Because these structures' parts are fit with care, they can be far lighter than their concrete equivalents(同等物) and are thought to be relatively resistant to fire. A cubic meter of wood can also take an estimated ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Larger wooden structures are planned elsewhere. London is examining blueprints for a 300-meter Oakwood Tower. A project in Tokyo could rise to 350m.
1. What is special about the WoHo Tower?| A．It will serve as a light house. |
| B．Its core is to be built with timber. |
| C．It is designed for a Norwegian firm. |
| D．It will be a tall timber mixture building. |
| A．It used to be a good choice. | B．It is easy to collect. |
| C．It is environmentally-friendly. | D．The broader type works better. |
| A．A nightmare. | B．Something practical. |
| C．A piece of cake. | D．Something impossible. |
| A．Flexible ideas. | B．The concrete equivalents. |
| C．Fire resistant materials. | D．New building techniques. |
4 . If you were to throw, say, a banana peel out of your car while driving along the motorway, that would be a completely harmless action, due to the fact that it’s part of a fruit — right? Actually, no. A banana peel can take up to two years to be naturally processed, and with a third of motorists admitting to littering while driving, that’s a whole lot of discarded banana peels. An orange peel and a cigarette butt has a similar biodegrading (生物降解) term to that of a banana peel, but tin cans last up to 100 years; and plastic bottles last forever, as do glass bottles.
Despite the fact that longer-lasting materials will serve to damage the environment and its animals for longer, we can’t merely measure the severity of a certain type of rubbish by its lifetime. For example, despite having a fairly short length of biodegrading time, more than 120 tons of cigarette-related litter is discarded in the UK every day.
It’s not a cheap habit either: to keep our streets clean annually costs UK taxpayers £500 million, and when you include our green spaces, that goes up to £1 billion. So, it’s not surprising that if caught fly-tipping you could face a £20,000 fine or even jail time and, if you disposed of something dangerous, the court could give you five years to serve. Regardless of how severe these punishments might seem, however, among the reported cases only 2,000 were found guilty out of 825,000, so we still have some way to go in making sure people obey the rules.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in para1 mean?| A．Harmless. | B．Processed. | C．Thrown. | D．Long-lasting. |
| A．Glass bottles. | B．Tin cans. | C．Cigarette butts. | D．Banana peels. |
| A．The severity of rubbish can be measured by its lifetime. |
| B．Quite a few people were found guilty of illegally littering. |
| C．Every year UK taxpayers spend £500 million keeping streets free of dirt. |
| D．Cigarette-related litter and peels can be ignored for their fairly short lifetime. |
| A．To inform readers of different biodegrading terms. |
| B．To call for people not to litter illegally. |
| C．To encourage people to use fewer plastic bags. |
| D．To stress the importance of good behavior. |
5 . It could be said that the northernmost part of our planet holds the secrets of our past as well as our future.
The icy land is，in fact，not a place for the weak. This vast land of wilderness is where people can get up close to nature's extremes. The place is “no joke”，US photographer Mark Mahaney told PLAIN Magazine. “When midnight sun is replaced by polar night，everything's different Eyes to the horizon and it's nothing. And then more nothing，in every direction. ”
One of the most harsh，yet most pristine（原始的）places on Earth，the Arctic has been affected by human activities-exploration，booming tourism and most importantly，global warming-in recent decades.
But the impact of these changes is not restricted to the inhabitants of this area alone. In fact, it could be said that the weight of the world relies on this icy region.
The Earth's steady climate depends on the Arctic's sea ice, which acts as a huge white reflector at the top of the planet, bouncing some of the sun's rays back into space. The more Arctic sea ice melts, the less light is reflected, and the more the dark oceans will absorb the sun's radiation. The Arctic also helps circulate ocean currents, moving cold and warm water around the globe.
With visible changes in the global climate, the Arctic has given us a wake-up call-what happens up in the North doesn't just stay there. It comes with a high cost to the world at large. It's time for us to pay attention to this chilly region and learn more about what's happening there, as well as its past and possible future.
1. What does the underlined sentence "The place is ‘no joke’” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．The weak are unhappy in the Arctic. |
| B．The natural conditions are poor in the Arctic. |
| C．Photographers are not allowed to take photos. |
| D．People are forbidden to make jokes in the Arctic. |
| A．Animals and plants. | B．Global warming |
| C．The activities of human beings. | D．The scientists' records. |
| A．To regulate climate. | B．To keep water clean. |
| C．To attract the sun's rays. | D．To support the living creatures. |
| A．The Most Harsh Land | B．Changes of the Arctic |
| C．The Arctic Sending Warning Signals | D．Nature's Extremes Attracting Scientists |
6 . It should be one of the main goals in today’s society to reduce plastic consumption. Though many of us believe that recycling will solve the problem, and continue using plastic, it’s actually the opposite. In 2013, 254 million tons of trash was produced in the U.S. alone, and only around 30% was recycled. This means that the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1000 years.
Recently, China has stopped importing trash from all over the world. Before this, over 30% of the world’s waste would end up in China, causing a popular belief that Asian countries are those responsible for creating the majority of the waste in the world. Now, Asian countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, are looking for new ways to avoid plastic. One of those ideas was a new, eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging.
One of the Perfect Homes Chiangmai’s team members noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using and decided to take photos of their shelves with his phone. Little did he know that people from all around the world would absolutely love this idea. “I just popped in to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts(合同) with our lawyer, who was delayed. When I noticed the vegetables wrapped in banana leaves and simply liked the idea, I took a few pictures and posted them online” he said.
With more than 3.5 million views and over 17 thousand shares, the idea became something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement(贯彻).
Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free, to which the supermarket responded that they are taking one step at a time, but it’s not that easy. Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their produce in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option.
It’s now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer. If every one opts for the banana leaf packaging, they will stop stocking the items in plastic.
1. What can we infer about recycling from paragraph 1?| A．The author thinks highly of recycling |
| B．The US did a great job in recycling in 2013 |
| C．Recycling has failed to solve the plastic problem |
| D．Recycling helps a lot in reducing plastic consumption |
| A．To take photos of their shelves |
| B．To meet with their lawyer there |
| C．To buy some items |
| D．To sign some contracts with the supermarket. |
| A．Doubts | B．Discusses | C．Dislikes | D．Chooses |
| A．Leaf Packaging Goes Viral |
| B．Reducing Plastic Consumption |
| C．Recycling Avoids Plastic Packaging |
| D．A Good Option Makes A Difference |
7 . How To Eat Better for the Planet
You're environmentally conscious - and hungry. Here are answers to all your coo-friendly food questions.
Does what I eat have an effect on climate change?
Yes. The world's food system is responsible for about one quarter of the planet-warming greenhouse gases that humans generate each year. That includes raising and harvesting all the plants, animals, and animal products we eat.
How exactly does food contribute to global warming?
When some forests are cleared to make room for farms, cattle, sheep or other livestock, some serious problems may come up.
What about chicken?
A number of studies have found that chickens, ducks, and other birds have a lesser climate impact than cattle or sheep kept on a farm.
Is organic produce better for the climate?
Organic produce is grown without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily better than conventionally grown produce from a climate perspective.
It's true that one person alone just makes a little bit in the climate problem. On the other hand, if many people made changes to their diets, that could start to add up. Experts have argued that it would make a big difference if the world's heaviest meat eaters scaled back - even moderately.
| A．Does what we eat matter? |
| B．Can I really make a difference? |
| C．Organic farms often require more land. |
| D．Modern-day chickens are bred to be extremely efficient. |
| E．Processing, packaging, and shipping food are also part of it. |
| F．Advances in chickens breeding are helping to reduce the cost of it. |
| G．Large stores of carbon released into the atmosphere heat up the planet. |
8 . Endangered species
An endangered species is a group of animals that could soon become extinct.
Habitat destruction is the main reason why animals become endangered and this happens in two ways. When humans move into a new area, the animals’ habitat is destroyed and there is nowhere for them to live and nothing to eat because humans chop down trees and build houses and farms.
| A．Animal habitats are also destroyed because of pollution. |
| B．Endangered species are also the result of hunting and fishing. |
| C．Eventually, all the creatures on Earth will enjoy being together. |
| D．Recent changes, however, have helped to improve the situation. |
| E．So what can individuals and governments do to protect endangered species? |
| F．Extinction happens when the last of the species has died out and there will be no more. |
| G．If we all cooperate and take these steps, we will protect these animals for future generations. |
9 . Modern agriculture and its beauty to feed billions of people may be one of humanity’s greatest achievements. However, it comes with hidden costs. For example, have you ever considered how much water is needed to provide you with a steak or a salad? It may surprise you.
In a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s national science organization, took a close look at the diets of 9,341 adult Australians-specifically, their “water-scarcity footprints (水消耗足迹)”.
It turns out that a sweet tooth not only adds to our waistlines but also stresses our water resources.
The water-scarcity footprint is a widely recognized measurement of water consumption. First, it counts the liters of water you used. Then, it looks at the place where the water was used. Using a liter of water in the desert is not the same as using a liter of water in a tropical rainforest. The more scarce water is in your area, the larger your water-scarcity footprint.
The scientists found that the average Australian’s diet had a water-scarcity footprint of 362 liters per day. Snacks and beverages-cookies, cakes, sodas and alcohol-accounted for 25 percent of the water-scarcity footprint. The research also included a glass of wine (41 liters), a single serving of potato chips (23 liters), and a small bar of milk chocolate (21 liters).
Not surprisingly, cutting out snacks would be the top priority if you wanted to lower your own water-scarcity.
Earth’s surface is 70 percent water, but only 2.5 percent of that can be used for drinking or farming. While humanity faces an uphill battle to feed its growing population, climate change is causing droughts and extreme weather in agricultural centers like California and eastern Australia.
Cities aren’t safe, either. In 2018, Cape Town, South Africa, nearly ran out of water due to drought. Its freshwater reservoir (水库) stayed at just about 13.5 percent of full capacity.
By 2030, a world of about 8.6 billion people will need 35 percent more water, 40 percent more energy, and 50 percent more food, according to the United States National Intelligence Council.
So, we need to watch what we eat, not just for our personal health but for the health of our societies.
1. What did the recent study from CSIRO find?
| A．There are many hidden places like lacking water. |
| B．The foods we consume could cause our water-scarcity footprints to be bigger. |
| C．Climate change is the leading reason for larger water-scarcity footprints. |
| D．Eating sweets leads to a smaller water-scarcity footprint. |
| A．They show how much a person affects their local water supply. |
| B．They change with a country’s population. |
| C．They count the amount of water a family wastes. |
| D．They are mainly used to measure how scarce water is in the desert. |
| A．South Africa is the area with the worst water shortages. |
| B．We are facing a greater shortage of water than of food. |
| C．Our eating habits could make a difference to the problem of water shortage. |
| D．Water shortage may bring about many social problems. |
| A．How to get rid of snacks |
| B．Why we should reduce water waste |
| C．The more water is, the bigger the water-scarcity footprints are |
| D．Water waste starts with snacks |
While thousands of college students headed for warm climate to enjoy sun and fun during their week off from classes, seven local students had other plans.
The Northern Essex Community College (NECC) students and one of their teachers spent part of their spring break in New York City, helping repair an area
Inside the building, the students saw nothing but broken walls and doors and pieces of the building
The students returned to school with
