1 . During a decline in tourism, one national park in Thailand has witnessed a dramatic rise in “visitors” recently. So many are the hermit crabs（寄居蟹）flooding into the otherwise empty beaches of Koh Lanta that shells for them to live in have become in short supply.
The Thai government moved quickly to ease the housing shortage, launching a public appeal for empty shells that netted over 200kg. On December 5 these were distributed around the park in a ceremony.
Hermit crabs rely on shells to protect their soft bodies, moving to larger shells as they grow. On Koh Lanta and the surrounding smaller islands, their rapid increase seems to be a natural phenomenon, rather than directly related to the absence of tourists. But the shortage of shells maybe man-made: pretty ones have long been gathered to be sold as goods. Crabs had begun to make do with potential death-traps such as plastic caps and bottles.
The shell drive was part of a government initiative to “regain the balance of nature”. “I have instructed all national parks to do whatever it takes,” says Varawut Silpa-archa, the minister for natural resources. His inspiration comes from the pause in tourism brought on by COVID-19. A ban on international visitors and the closure of national parks have helped nature recover, bringing endangered leatherback turtles back onto Thai beaches. In the coastal provinces of Phang Nga and Phuket, turtles have laid the largest number of eggs for 20 years.
The government has decided to try to copy the short break forced on it by COVID-19 in future. From now on, all national parks will be required to close for a short period during the off season and to limit the number of tourists through a reservation system when they are open. Although such restrictions mean reduced earnings from tourism in the short term, in the longer run more parks may help to keep the tourists coming.
1. What happened to the beaches of Koh Lanta recently?| A．They saw a constant stream of tourists. | B．They were packed with hermit crabs. |
| C．They became completely empty. | D．They got flooded by seawater. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Critical. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．To warn turtles are dying out. |
| B．To stress ecological diversity of Thailand. |
| C．To illustrate the birth of Varawut’s inspiration. |
| D．To prove beaches are their ideal habitats. |
| A．Authorities Help to Find Shelters for Homeless Hermit Crabs |
| B．Developing Economy or Protecting Animals? |
| C．Governments Are Responsible for the Balance of Nature |
| D．Closing National Parks or Drawing More Visitors? |
When a tornado(龙卷风) touched down in a small town nearby,many families were left completed ruined. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered(破碎的) mobile home, a depressed expression on her face. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downward. Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves. I stuck the picture of the young family on our refrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three-year-old Meghan.
“These poor people now have nothing,” I said. “We’ll share what we have with them. I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up old toys and games.
Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She came to the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.
“Oh, Honey,” I said.” You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously, eyes filled with held-back tears. "Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make that other little girl happy,too.”
Paragraph. 1:The boys had watched,open-mouthed,as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph. 2:
I looked my children for a long moment.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The production of coffee beans is a huge, profitable business, but, unfortunately, full-sun production is taking over the industry and bringing about a lot of damage. The change
On a local level, the damage
Medical research often makes use of the forests’ plant and animal life,
The loss of shade trees is gradually causing
It is obvious that
Earlier 2019,the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development published
This is a bad
The answer is that the Himalaya, for example, long defined by
1. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
| A．How to predict an earthquake. |
| B．How to survive an earthquake. |
| C．How to rescue people in an earthquake. |
| A．Shelters. | B．Cars. | C．Blankets. |
| A．Drop to the ground. | B．Stay by the window. | C．Run towards the door. |
| A．Trapped lifts. | B．Falling pieces. | C．Damaged bridges. |
6 . Time magazine’s tradition —“Person of the Year” originated in 1927, when it honored 25-year-old pilot Charles Lindbergh for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean Though the magazine has recognized several young people for their global influence, it has never given the important honor to a teenager. But its 2019’s “Person of The Year” is the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Thunberg’s rise to global reputation is even more surprising given that just over a year ago, she was a shy 15-year-old anxious about the increasing threat of climate change. In August 2018, tired of the “refusal” of world leaders to take action, the young girl started camping out in front of the Swedish Parliament every Friday with a sign that said: “School Strike for Climate.”
The teen’s act of protest soon drew public attention, inspiring kids and adults worldwide to take action. By September 2018, her weekly strike became a global climate change movement called “Fridays for the Future”, with tens of thousands of students skipping school on this day to protest the inaction of the leaders of their respective countries. Her appeal for progress in environment protection also encouraged other young activists to begin their own climate change movements.
Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the US Youth-Led Sunrise Movement, says Thunberg “symbolizes the suffering, the frustration, the desperation, the anger — at some level, the hope — of many young people who won’t even be of age to vote by the time their futures are doomed.”
The teenager, who has single-handedly helped bring climate change to the forefront of the global conversation, owes her success to her Asperger’s syndrome (阿斯佩各综合征). She says, “I see the world in black and white, and I don’t like compromising. If I were like everyone else, I would have continued on and not seen this crisis. Right now, we have entered a new decade — a decade that will define our future. And I’ve seen hope, but it does not come from the governments or companies. It comes from the people.”
1. Why did Greta Thunberg camp out in front of Swedish Parliament every Friday?| A．To heighten public awareness of environmental protection. |
| B．To show her support for school strike for climate. |
| C．To condemn the government’s inaction on climate change. |
| D．To win a global reputation as a teenager climate change activist. |
| A．In paragraph2. | B．In paragraph3. |
| C．In paragraph4. | D．In paragraph5. |
| A．Positive and sensitive. | B．Uncaring but reliable. |
| C．Selfish but intelligent. | D．Brave and determined. |
| A．Charles Lindbergh is the first adolescent “Person of the Year” of Time magazine |
| B．on account of Asperger’s syndrome, Greta Thunberg has suffered a lot |
| C．all governments haven’t already taken effective measures to deal with climate change |
| D．Varshini Prakash thinks little of Thunberg and her strike for climate change |
7 . Rainbow -coloured rubbish is the colourful waste created by a Swedish city with a unique recycling system. Like many cities in Sweden, Eskilstuna has an impressive recycling record. It met the EU’ s 2020 target of recycling 50％ of waste many years ago. But almost everyone who lives here follows a strict recycling policy at home. People are expected to sort their household waste into seven separate categories, including food, textiles, cartons and metal. But what really makes the system stand out is the bright colour code.
The reason for this becomes clear at the city’ s recycling plant. The bags arrive all jumbled up because they’ re collected altogether, once a fortnight from outside people’ s houses. But thanks to those bright colours, scanners can select the bags and separate them efficiently. The food waste in green bags is processed on site into slurry(浆) to make biogas, which powers the city’ s buses. One of the benefits of this method of recycling is that there is less cross-pollution,so more of the recycled waste can actually be used to make new things.
Like the rest of Sweden, Eskilstuna is committed to sending zero waste from its citizens to landfill(垃圾堆) . Waste that cannot be recycled is incinerated at a local plant to generate electricity. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels, but does create greenhouse gases. As countries a-round the world try to improve their recycling rates, some may look to Eskilstuna as an example to follow— as long as they think they can persuade their citizens to get busy sorting at home.
1. How do people deal with their household waste in Eskilstuna？| A．Sorting and putting it in colourful bags. |
| B．Dyeing it with different colours. |
| C．Processing and recycling it at home. |
| D．Sorting and taking it out every week. |
| A．It avoids cross － pollution entirely. |
| B．The waste can be stored in a fixed site. |
| C．It’ s easier to classify the bags of rubbish. |
| D．The city takes on a colorful look. |
| A．Burnt | B．Broken |
| C．Reused | D．Washed |
| A．Tips on Sorting of Household Waste. |
| B．A Swedish City’ s Recycling Efforts. |
| C．A Unique Waste Recycling Plan. |
| D．A New Policy for Conservation. |
8 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2？| A．Social. | B．Native. |
| C．Protected. | D．Threatened. |
| A．National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
| B．Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
| C．Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
| D．Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio－diversity. |
| A．Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
| B．Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
| C．Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
| D．Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
| A．Beating back extinction. | B．Dealing with environmental problems. |
| C．Setting up nature reserves. | D．Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
Sneakers (运动鞋) Made from Old Chewing Gum
Dutch fashion and shoe label Explicit Wear is hoping to solve one of life’s sticky situations—the annoyance of stepping in waste chewing gum on the pavement—while helping to keep Amsterdam’s city streets clean. The brand has partnered with local marketing organization Iamsterdam and sustainability firm Gumdrop
Chewing gum causes an incredibly serious ecological problem,
The waste gum will be put to good use to make stylish kicks,
Available for preorder now, the new Gumshoe sneakers—offered in both a bubblegum pink and a black/red colorway—
Nearly 2.2 pounds of gum
To help spread their sustainability message,
10 . Darshan Karwat is making headlines for having maintained an incredibly plain and continued lifestyle during his student years. The man gave up fast food, new clothes, and even toilet paper, until he got to a point where his trash（垃圾）for an entire year fit in just two plastic bags!
Karwat, who is originally from India, started the trash-free experiment when he lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and managed to keep it going for two and a half years. In the first year, he produced only 7.5 pounds of trash, and in the second year, he brought that number down to 6 pounds, which is a mind-blowing 0.4 percent of the 1,500 pounds of yearly trash produced by the average American.
Looking back, Karwat says that his inspiration to start the project came from a radio show The Story, on which he heard of a British couple who lived trash-free.
His trash mostly consisted of a few chip bags, glass milk-bottle caps, fruit stickers, and broken glass. He obviously had to make lots of sacrifices to achieve this – he stopped buying any kind of packaged food including cheeses, only drank milk from recycled glass bottles, and gave up on buying new clothes or stuff for his home – no gadgets, furniture, or even cups. He began carrying his own fork, spoon, plate, and a bowl everywhere he went, just to avoid plastic cutlery（餐具）.
“I needed to change the way I lived, and I had to get creative,” he added. “When a restaurant furnished a napkin-wrapped（包纸的）fork and knife, I asked the server to change them for cutlery without the napkin. I’d remember to say “No straw!” after asking for water and to make sure the veggie（素食者）burger I ordered didn’t come with a wooden pick holding it together. I did what I had to do, and it was awkward.”
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．How a person inspires others |
| B．How Darshan Karwat gets famous. |
| C．Darshan Karwat and his no trash experiment. |
| D．A plain and sustainable lifestyle attracts the public. |
| A．Because he is from India. |
| B．Because he has been in university. |
| C．Because he heard a story on the radio. |
| D．Because a British couple reminded to do so. |
| A．Cheeses. | B．Furniture. |
| C．Milk. | D．Gadgets. |
| A．he seldom went to a restaurant |
| B．it wasn’t convenient to live the life |
| C．the server seemed cold to him |
| D．he was proud of what he had been doing |
