1 . 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.

2. What do we know about water-scarcity footprints?

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.

3. What can we infer from the last four paragraphs?

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.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

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

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Hawaii possesses the unique scenery of islands, but pollution takes away all the     1    (beautiful) of the beaches here. I hate to go to the beaches on sunny weekends and see rubbish bags lying on the sand, cigarette butts(烟头)     2    (bury) in the sand, and soda cans floating in the ocean.

    3    really annoys me is that I see tourists who visit Hawaii leave their rubbish on the beaches. I was always taught after drinking soda    4    (throw) the can into the place     5    it should stay — the trash can. It’s also     6    (annoy) that some people walk right by rubbish and pretend that it’s not there.

The dogs or the fish are not to blame for it. It’s our fault and we must blame     7    (we). Everyone has to do his or her part to solve this problem. It can     8    (hard) be difficult to do the job. There are a lot of things that we can do. First of all, we can help pick     9    rubbish along the beaches. We could also form organizations that help clean up our beaches. More importantly, we need to start now     10    the beaches are damaged beyond repair.

3 . Plastic is piling up in ecosystems all over the world. Although its harmful impacts on both species and ecosystems have been documented, a few animals—like bowerbirds and hermit crabs—are doing what they can to recycle it. And according to a recent study, wild bees in Canada have joined the effort, which is a rare observation of behavioral flexibility in species especially insects, in increasingly plastic-rich environments.

The researchers found two species of leafcutter bees putting plastic into their nests. One of the bees they studied, the alfalfa leafcutter bee, normally bites off pieces of leaves and flowers while the second bee gathers sticky substances from trees. Leafcutter bees don't build big nests or store honey like honeybees, choosing instead small nests in underground holes, tree holes or cracks （裂缝）in buildings. But the researchers found that three of eight brood cells（育雏巢室）contained pieces of plastic bags, replacing 23 percent of the cut leaves in each cell on average.

While they don't make honey, alfalfa leafcutter bees still make money for the U. S. and Canadian farmers by pollinating（给......传授花粉）crops including alfalfa , carrots and melons. The European insects were introduced to North America in the 1930s for that purpose, and they've since become wild, joining the continent's many native species of leafcutter bees.

In a separate study conducted in Argentina between 2017 and 2018, researchers found a bee nest made entirely of plastic, which consisted of three separate cells. It's the first known example of such construction worldwide. Compared to the other nests the researchers examined, which were made of natural materials, this one had a pretty lower success rate of the bees' survival. One of the cells had a dead baby bee , another seemed to have housed an adult that had left the nest, and the third was unfinished.

1. What does the animals' use of plastic show according to the study?

A．How widely plastic is used.

B．How strange the behavior of wildlife is.

C．How some wildlife is adapting to plastic.

D．How plastic pollution has harmed them.

2. What do leaves mean to alfalfa leafcutter bees?

A．Food.	B．Shelter.
C．A plastic substitute.	D．Traditional nest materials.

3. Which is one characteristic of leafcutter bees?

A．They have great economic value.

B．They store honey like honeybees.

C．They prefer to live in tree holes.

D．They have evolved into a new species.

4. What was the nest made entirely of plastic like?

A．It might be warmer.	B．It might be unhealthy.
C．It might be easy to finish.	D．It might be recyclable.

4 . 阅读下面文段，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡的相应位置上。

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     1     (destroy) by the hurricane. “I wanted to see for myself what happened,” said Terry. “I couldn’t imagine    2    it is like to lose your home and everything that you know and the    3    (power) effect the hurricane had on those people. I wanted to do something, to understand their feeling of helplessness.” The group headed into Brooklyn’s Red Hook district, which was hit hard by the hurricane. There they met people from other parts of the country,     4    had also volunteered to help. Together, those volunteers and the NECC students worked     5     (clear) rubbish out of a three-story building. They put on protective suits and gloves    6    they entered the building.

Inside the building, the students saw nothing but broken walls and doors and pieces of the building     7    (lie) all over the place.

The students returned to school with     8    sense of achievement, a feeling     9    they helped people in need. I was remarkable how a community lost so much and was still able to recover, and this left the deepest impression    10    the students.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1 个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A new bill has been     1    (official) passed in the Philippines that requires students to plant 10 trees each before graduation. According to the details outlined in the bill, the rule applies     2     all students who are to graduate from primary school, high school, and college. Trees can be planted in either forests, reserves, urban areas,     3    (abandon) mining sites, or in communities.

Over the past decades, the Philippines     4    (lose) more than 30% of its forest cover due to illegal logging (伐木), but the new bill means that the younger generation can help to address     5     problem. Under the new rule, 175 million new trees could be planted by students each year. If only 10% of them     6    (survival), that means that 525 billion trees can grow up over the course of one generation.

In fact, this isn’t the only positive rule     7    concerns the younger generation. One school in India made its students pay their school fees by collecting, bringing to school, and     8    (recycle) plastic waste that was lying across the town. This helped raise     9    (aware) of plastic waste in Asian     10    (country). It also allowed more students to seek education and even helped the students to earn some money so they wouldn’t have to rely on child labour for a living.

6 . Almost everyone has heard the expression “the calm before the storm.” It is usually used to describe a peaceful period just before a very stressful situation or a tense argument.

British sailors coined the phrase in the late 1600s; they noted that before certain storms the seas would seem to become still and the winds would drop.

Science has given us the reason. According to US website HowStuffWorks, a calm period occurs because many storms, tornadoes and hurricanes draw in all the warm and humid(湿热的) air from the surrounding area. As this air rises into the storm clouds, it cools and acts as “fuel for the storm, like petrol in a car”. Once the storm has taken all the energy it can from the air, it is pushed out from the top of the storm clouds and falls back down to ground level. As the air goes down, it becomes warm and dry. Warm and dry air is stable, so once it covers an area, it causes a calm period before the storm. This same process also causes the “eye of the storm” in hurricanes and tornadoes. In these conditions, the calm occurs in the center of the storm because of the strong rotating (旋转的) winds.

The Weather Network has a tip for working out how far away a storm is. First count how many seconds there are between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, roughly three seconds equal one kilometer. So, for example, if you count nine seconds, the storm is about three kilometers away. A good method is that if your count is below 30 seconds, you should seek shelter straight away.

However, due to the complexity of storm system, not all storms take place after calm. Given the right conditions, some storms announce themselves with heavy rain and fierce winds.

So, your best bet is to keep yourself updated with weather reports for any predictions regarding a coming storm in your area. That's the most reliable way to predict the next display(展示) of nature's temper (脾气).

1. What is the function of Paragraph 3?

A．To describe how the eye of the storm comes into being.

B．To stress why tornadoes and hurricanes are destructive.

C．To explain why a peaceful period occurs before some storms.

D．To remind how dangerous a storm can be in certain situations.

2. If you count fifteen seconds between a lightening flash and a thunder clap, the storm may be .

A．one kilometer away	B．three kilometers away
C．four kilometers away	D．five kilometers away

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．Heavy storms don't usually last long.

B．It is not always quiet before a storm.

C．Storms have a big influence on our life.

D．Weather reports often fail to predict a storm.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A travel journal.	B．A science fiction.
C．A literature review.	D．A geography magazine.

7 . The expression“a thirst for knowledge" may soon have a new meaning for millions of people who have no way to get clean water. Researchers have developed a book with specially treated pages that can turn dirty water into clean and drinkable water. They say their invention could improve the lives of many in the developing world.

About 700 million people around the world are at risk of disease or even death because their drinking water is not clean. The water is polluted by harmful bacteria.

The book contains 25 pages. Each page is about one millimeter thick. The pages contain very small particles (微粒) of silver. The pages can be used as filters（过滤器）to remove harmful microorganisms(微生物) that can pollute drinking water. The filter kills the organisms that pass through it.

Pictures on the pages show the dangers of dirty water and how to use the book for those unable to read. The pages are made of filter paper. They are designed to be torn from the book. Water can be poured through the paper to be cleaned.

Ms. Dankovich, the inventor, says each page can treat up to 100 liters of water. She recently presented her invention at the meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, Massachusetts. She was asked whether she had considered adding classic literature on the book's pages.

"The idea of classic texts—that's of interest maybe later. We have discussed a little bit more exciting text. But we really haven't had the time to go through that part," she says.

Teri Dankovich and another researcher tested the drinkable book in Bangladesh, Ghana and South Africa. The tests proved to be successful.

Water for Life, a non-governmental organization, has provided financial support for the project.

1. What do we learn about the book from the text?

A．It has pages with several functions.	B．It is about environment protection.
C．It sells well around the world.	D．It can treat about 100 liters of water.

2. What does the underlined phrase "that part" in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．Classic texts.	B．Exciting discussion.
C．Invention presentation.	D．Financial support.

3. In which country did not the researchers test the drinkable book?

A．Ghana	B．Bangladesh.
C．South Africa.	D．America.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Researchers have found a way to save those being ill.

B．Book pages could provide safe drinking water.

C．Knowledge is as important as drinkable water.

D．Millions of people are in great need of drinkable water.

8 . Kevin Randall, a teacher,who teaches biology at Grandville High School,runs the environmental club at the high school,which has around 2,000 students.The club is known as the GHS Green Team,and it aims to raise awareness among students and teachers about sustainability(持续性).It also works on projects to reduce the environmental footprint of the building itself.

One of the club's recent projects focused on reducing waste in the school cafeteria.Randall said their cafeteria supervisor told them that the school went through 54,000 plastic forks every year.The club applied for a financial help,built recycling centers for the cafeteria,and purchased metal silverware.

And now every student uses a durable metal fork or a spoon instead of disposables.(一次性用品),“and that's just one way we're trying to capture the low-hanging fruit,if you will,"Randall said.

The efforts of Randall and his students have earned Grandville High School the Michigan Green School certification from the state.In addition to their work reducing waste in the cafeteria, the GHS Green Team has also built a garden with flowers and vegetables on campus,and leads cleanups on site and out in the community.Over the years,Randall and his students have also been working on raising money to install solar panels(太阳能板) on the roof of the high school.

Randall said he was motivated to take the lead on environmental issues for his school because he wanted his students to have someone to turn to in the building who understands what's at stake(利害攸关）when it comes to climate change.

＂And I also felt like I needed to do more in my life for my own two children at home," Randall added,"They need to know that their dad is working as hard as he can to reduce the effects of climate change,and to spread the word,and to make sure that other students out there are learning about this just the way they are at home."

1. What is the purpose of the GHS Green Team club?

A．To inspire students' love for biology.

B．To finish the projects assigned by school.

C．To prepare students for their future jobs.

D．To promote environmental protection.

2. What's the result of the project on school cafeteria?

A．It has changed the outlook of the cafeteria.

B．Students can have more fruits in the cafeteria.

C．Plastic forks are no longer used in the cafeteria.

D．The school has become famous nationwide.

3. What's the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The classification of the projects.

B．The characteristics of the club.

C．The activities organized by the club.

D．The future of the club.

4. What was Randall's aim by doing the work on environmental issues?.

A．To educate the young.

B．To get material rewards.

C．To amuse his children.

D．To make himself famous.

9 . The World Water Day has been celebrated annually on 22 March since1992. Each year has a different theme, looking at things like the role of clean water in the world of work, ways to stop wasting water, finding ways to supply water to underprivileged groups and so on.

    1    But it is also vital for sanitation(卫生). It is estimated that more than 700 children under the age of seven die every day from illnesses linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. The right to water and sanitation was recognized as a human right.     2     These include rural communities, people who have been displaced due to war and local conflicts and areas where climate change is making water more and more scarcer.

Apart from the obvious health issues, a lack of accessible clean water means that people – often women and children – spend hours every day walking to and from distant water supplies. This means they don’t have time to dedicate to work, studies and other domestic duties.     3    And people who are not able to walk to get their own water are particularly vulnerable.

There are many charities working on creating sustainable supplies of clean water for different communities around the world.     4    But the fundamental problem of increasing demand for a limited resource can only be addressed by more efficient use of water, especially in industry and agriculture. Waste-water recycling, capturing rainwater, more efficient irrigation techniques and reforestation are all examples of how water can be used more efficiently.

    5    We should support charities, raise awareness, take part in the World Water Day events that are happening all around the world and, of course, be careful with how we use water in our own lives. Visit the UN World Water Day website to find out about an event near us. Follow world water day on social media and help spread the word about this incredibly important issue.

A．Clean drinking water is fundamental.

B．As individuals, what can we do to help the issue?

C．The search for water becomes their main occupation.

D．This important work needs to continue and to expand.

E．Every living cell in the body needs water to keep functioning.

F．In normal conditions, the human body can only survive three or four days without water.

G．However, there are still at least 2.1 billion people around the world living without safe water.

10 . Clothing rental is a hot new industry and retailers (零售商) are demanding to get on board in hopes of attracting green shopper.

But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline investigated (调查) this question and concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.

Take shipping, for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.

She writes, ''An item ordered online and then returned can send out 20 kilograms of carbon each way, and increases up to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. By comparison, the carbon impact of a pair of jeans purchased from a physical store and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study by Levi's.''

Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most rental services, this usually means dry cleaning, a high impact and polluting process. All the rental services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene (氯乙烯), a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutant, still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with alternatives, although these aren't great either.

Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called ''share washing'' that makes people waste more precisely because a product or service is shared and thus is regarded as more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this, advertised as ''a way to share rides and limit ear ownership.'' and yet ''it has been proven to discourage walking,bicycling, and public transportation use.''

Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them in the dustbin after a few wears, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us too satisfied. There's an even better step — that's wearing what is already in the closet.

1. What is Elizabeth Cline's attitude toward clothing rental?

A．Approving.	B．Unfavorable.
C．Objective.	D．Enthusiastic.

2. The Uber example in Paragraph 6 indicates that      .

A．rental services are on the rise

B．clothing rental will be as successful as Uber

C．renting clothes might waste more than expected

D．renting clothes might make people lose interest in fast fashion

3. The author suggests that we should      .

A．give up renting any clothing

B．purchase inexpensive clothes

C．rent clothes rather than buy them

D．make full use of clothes we've possessed

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Clothing rental is a new fashion.

B．Clothing rental is retailers' preference.

C．Renting clothes is not that eco-friendly.

D．Renting-clothes business is in a dilemma.