1 . 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。

Earth Day is a yearly event celebrated on April 22. Various activities    1    ( hold ) worldwide to show support for environmental protection. Here is a brief history of    2    event.

In the 1960s, Americans were becoming aware of the effects of pollution    3    the environment. In 1969, Senator (参议员) Gaylord Nelson,    4    ( consider )one of the leaders of the modern environmental movement, developed the idea of Earth Day. His idea really raised    5    (aware )about the environment. On April 22, 1970, over 20 million people turned up for the first Earth Day. They believed it was important    6    ( keep ) the planet safe.

In 1990, Earth Day went global, with 200 million people in over 140 nations     7    ( participate ). In 2000, Earth Day focused on clean energy and involved hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries and 5000 environmental    8    ( group ). Activities ranged from a traveling to a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people at the National Mall in Washington, D. C. Today, the holiday is a global celebration    9    is sometimes extended (延长) into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focusing on green living. In 2018, more than 1 billion people were involved in Earth Day activities, making it one of the    10    (large)events in the world.

2 . A 23-year-old British woman has invented a product that she hopes will one day take the place of single-use plastic. The new product is made by combining fishing waste and algae （藻类）.

Lucy Hughes created the material, called MarinaTex, for her final year project at the University of Sussex. She continued her research after she left the university.

On November 13, the James Dyson Foundation announced that Hughes was the international winner of the 2019 James Dyson Award for design.

MarinaTex is edible, meaning it can be eaten without danger. Hughes says it also is strong and stable. But unlike plastic, MarinaTex breaks down in four to six weeks under normal conditions and does not pollute the soil.

The inventor said she is concerned about the growing amounts of plastics in ocean waters. She noted one report that there would be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans by the year 2050. The United Nations estimates that 100 million tons of plastic waste has already been left in the oceans.

Hughes also was investigating ways to reduce the amount of waste from the fishing industry. The industry produces an estimated 50 million tons of waste worldwide each year, UN officials say.

Hughes told Reuters that she was "trying to work out how I could use the waste stream and add value to that waste." Examining fish parts left over from processing helped to give her the idea for a material that was useful and did not harm the environment.

To create a strong material, Hughes added the molecule chitosan, which comes from sea creatures like crabs, and agar, a material from red algae.

After months of testing, Hughes produced a strong, flexible sheet that forms at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius.

Inventor James Dyson said that MarinaTex is "stronger, safer and much more sustainable" than the plastic polyethylene. It is also easier to break down than other possible replacement products for polyethylene, the material that single-use plastic bags are made of.

Hughes will receive about $41,000 in prize money as the first place winner of the James Dyson Award. She told Reuters that she plans to use the money to better develop the product and ways to mass produce it.

1. When did Lucy Hughes create MarinaTex?

A．At university.	B．After graduation.
C．Before going to university.	D．After winning the James Dyson Award.

2. What's true about MarinaTex?

A．It is delicious.	B．It is environmentally friendly.
C．It is a type of plastics.	D．It exists for a long time in nature.

3. What helped to give her the idea for MarinaTex?

A．Observing the process of fishing.

B．Studying different parts of a fish.

C．Checking waste from the fishing industry.

D．Examining left-over fish parts after cooking.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.	B．Education.
C．Lifestyle.	D．Technology.

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

How Do Avalanches Happen

If you’re ever skiing in the mountains, you’ll want to be aware of avalanches. An avalanche is a sudden flow of snow down a slope, such as a mountain. The amount of snow in an avalanche     1     (vary) based on many things, but it can be such a huge amount that it can bury the bottom of a slope in dozens of feet of snow.

Avalanches     2     be caused by natural things. For example, new snow or rain can cause built-up snow to loosen and fall down the side of a mountain. Artificial triggers（诱发因素）can also cause avalanches. For example, snowmobiles, skiers, and explosives     3     (know) to lead to avalanches.

Avalanches   usually occur   during the   winter   and spring,     4     snowfall   is   greatest.   As they are dangerous to any living beings in their path, avalanches have destroyed forests, roads, railroads and even entire towns. Warning signs exist that allow experts to predict -- and often prevent -- avalanches from     5    

   (occur). When over a foot of fresh snow falls, experts know to be on the lookout for avalanches. Explosives can be used in places     6     massive snow buildups to trigger much smaller avalanches that don’t     pose a danger to persons or property.

When deadly avalanches do occur, the moving snow can quickly reach over 80 miles per hour. Skiers caught in such avalanches can be buried under dozens of feet of snow.     7     it’s   possible to dig out   of such avalanches, not all are able to escape.

If you get tossed about by an avalanche and find yourself     8     (bury) under many feet of snow, you might not have a true sense of which way is up and which way is down. Some avalanche victims have tried to dig their way out, only to find that they were upside down and digging     9     farther under the snow rather than to the top!

Experts suggest that people caught in an avalanche try to dig around   you     10     (create) a space for air, so you can breathe more easily. Then, do your best to figure out which way is up and dig in that direction to reach the surface and signal rescuers.

4 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Lower Oxygen Levels Threaten Marine Life

Oxygen in the oceans is being lost at an alarming rate, with “dead zones” expanding rapidly and hundreds more areas showing oxygen dangerously exhausted, putting sharks, tuna, marlin and other large fish species at particular risk. Dead zones, where oxygen is effectively absent, have quadrupled(翻两番) in extent in the last half-century, and there are also at least 700 areas where oxygen is at dangerously low levels, up from 45 when research was undertaken in the 1960s.

The reasons behind this environmental collapse are multiple. Among all, pollutants generated by the industrial world have been the most destructive force to cause the unbalance, including a rising tide of plastic waste, as well as other pollutants. Seas are about 26% more acidic than in pre-industrial times because of absorbing the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with damaging impacts on shellfish in particular.

Low oxygen levels are also associated with global heating, because the warmer water holds less oxygen and the heating causes stratification(分层), so there is less of the vital mixing of oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor layers. Oceans are expected to lose about 3-4% of their oxygen by the end of this century, but the impact will be much greater in the levels closest to the surface, where many species are concentrated, and in the mid to high latitudes.

Another major cause for lower oxygen is intensive farming. When excess artificial fertilizer from crops, or wastes from the meat industry, runs off the land and into rivers and seas, it feeds algae(藻类) which bloom and then cause oxygen consumption as they die and decay.

The problem of dead zones has been known about for decades, but little has been done to tackle it. Now is high time to take actions and help the oceans function better.

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5 . Direction: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.increasing 　　　　B.defend　　　　 C.partially 　　　　D.depriving E.sharpened　　 　　 F.breaks 　　　 　G.endured 　　　　H.granting I.issues 　　　　　　J.activate 　　　　K.roughly

Flood-hit Venice’s shrinking population faces mounting problems

Venetians(威尼斯人) are fed up with what they see as inadequate responses to the city’s mounting problems: record-breaking flooding, environmental and safety threats from cruise ship traffic and the burden on services from over-tourism.

They feel largely left to their own devices, with ever-fewer Venetians living in the historic part of the city to    1    its interests and keep it from becoming mainly a tourist land.

The historic flooding this week---marked by three floods over 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) and the highest in 53 years at 1.87 meters(6 feet, 1 inch)---has    2    calls to create an administration that recognizes the uniqueness of Venice, for both its concentration of treasures and its    3    vulnerability.

Flood damage has been    4    estimated at hundreds of millions of Euros (dollars), but the true range will only become clear with time. The frustration goes far beyond the failure to complete and    5    78 underwater barriers that were designed to prevent just the kind of damage that Venice has    6    this week. With the system not yet completed or even    7    tested after 16 years of work and 5 billion Euros ($5.5 billion) invested, many are suspicious it will even work.

At the public level, proposals for better administering the city including    8    some level of autonomy(自制) to Venice, already enjoyed by some Italian regions like Trentino-Alto-Adige with its German-speaking minority, or offering tax    9    to encourage Venice’s repopulation.

Just 53,000 people live in the historic part of the city that tourists know as Venice, down by a third from a generation ago and dropping by about 1,000 people a year. That means fewer people watching the neighborhood, monitoring for public maintenance    10    or neighbors in need. Many leave because of the increased expense or the daily difficulties in living in a city of canals, which can make even a simple errand a hard journey.

6 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.

Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sights on our “consumer culture”. Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day are growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.

We clearly have a growing resource problem. The produces we make, buy, and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live. But to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.

While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. For most, Christmas isn’t an add-on to an already heavy shopping year. In fact, it is likely the only time of year many have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.

This is particularly, true for Boxing Day, often the target of the strongest derision(嘲弄) by anti-consumerists. While we may laugh at the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the one chance to buy items they’ve needed all year. As Leigh Phillips argues, “this is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”

Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account that those shopping on Boxing Day are only a small part of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring such people as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own￡1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?

Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choices, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problems. It is no wonder one is changing their behaviours—or that environmental destruction continues without any reduction in intensity.

1. It is indicated in the 1st   paragraph that during the holiday season, many consumers .

A．ignore resource problems

B．are fascinated with presents

C．are encouraged to spend less

D．show great interest in the movement.

2. It can be inferred from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that the environmentalist movement .

A．has targeted the wrong persons

B．has achieved its intended purposes

C．has taken environment-friendly measures

D．has benefited both consumers and producers

3. The example of Roman Abramovich is used to show environmentalists’ .

A．madness about life choices

B．discontent with rich lifestyle

C．ignorance about the real cause

D．disrespect for holiday shoppers

4. It can be concluded from the text that telling people not to shop at Christmas is .

A．anything less than a responsibility	B．nothing more than a bias
C．indicative of environmental awareness	D．unacceptable to ordinary people

7 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Sustainable Transport in Cities

Transporthas always shaped cities. In Medieval times crossroads gave birth to bloomingmarket towns. Many North American cities were created for the car. But how arethe cities of today being shaped by a need for more sustainable transport?

Manylocal governments are speeding up change through policy initiatives such asjoined transport, congestion charges and low emission zones, sustainablegaining and life-cycle costing, and opening data up to companies and academics.And these city level policies can move markets in more sustainable directions.    1     This ha resulted in five vehicle manufacturers committing to meetingthat deadline, which is both in their own commercial interests and good for theenvironment.

The least dense cities, for example, Houston, have per capita（人均价）carbonemissions nearly ten times higher than the densest, such as Singapore.     2    This involves gathering mixed use developments around a key transport center, as with the KL Central area in Kuala Lumpur, built around the largest railway station in Southeast Asia.

    3    Others are using motivations and behavioral change to encourage people to choose more efficient -- and often healthier -- forms of transport. Copen has a number of progressive cycling policies including the Green Wave, whichallows people cycling at 20km /h to hit all green lights during rush hour.

Light weighing and new engine and fuel technologies are helping to make existing road and rail vehicles more efficient.     4     The main options are hydrogen fuelcells, fossil fuel hybrids, and electric vehicles, and the best solution may well vary from city to city.

A．Many options require city -   level investment in new facilities.

B．However, it is not yet clear   which technologies and fuels cities will back.

C．Through their actions, city   governments today are helping to shape the cities of the future.

D．For example, London is   requiring all newly licensed taxis to be zero - emission capable from 2018.

E．City planners are using   transport - oriented development to increase density while maintaining quality of life and property value.

F．Some cities, such as Delhi,   are investing heavily in creating the mass transport systems needed to change   how citizens travel.

8 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Ban the Bag!

Standing in line at the grocery store last week, I watched the woman in front of me buy a tube of toothpaste. As the clerk placed her purchase in a plastic bag, I couldn’t help wondering how long it would take for that bag to end up in the trash. Then I noticed the big purse the woman was carrying and wondered why she had needed a plastic bag at all.

People have come to rely on plastic bags as everything from shopping bags for groceries to trash-can bags. Although plastic bags can be recycled, only about one percent of those used in the United States are. Instead, after helping people transport items from one place to another, most are thrown away. They end up in landfills, where it can take a plastic bag up to a thousand years to decay. Some bags end up elsewhere in the environment, sticking to trees and fences, blocking rivers and oceans, or floating along city sidewalks.

Plastic bags harm the environment in several ways. First, they break down into particles that pollute our soil and water. Because most plastic bags are made of polyethylene, a product derived from crude oil (原油) or natural gas, they waste nonrenewable resources. Plastic bags can also harm animals. Scientists estimate that more than one million sea animals, including whales, seabirds, and turtles, die each year from intaking or becoming stranded in plastic.

People all over the world are starting to recognize the problems associated with plastic bags. Countries such as China, South Africa, Switzerland, and Uganda are taking action and banning the bags. Other nations, including Italy and Ireland, have been trying to restrict the use of plastic bags by taxing them. In the United States more and more communities are ridding themselves of plastic bags. Now more and more people are also purchasing inexpensive, reusable bags and using them when they shop. If we all take this simple step, we can be a part of a “green” revolution.

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9 . In the classic novel The Day of the Triffids, giant plants terrorise humanity. Triffids can walk and are equipped with poisonous stingers, but their real power lies in their ability to communicate and so plot against us.

It sounds far-fetched, but since John Wyndham’s book was published in 1951, one aspect of this fiction has proved to be science fact: plants do talk to one another. It has long been known that insects such as pollinators (传粉者）and pests can distinguish between plants by the chemicals they release. What’s new is the idea that plants use their emissions to talk among themselves. “Plants release chemicals into the atmosphere—these can be viewed as a language in the sense that a plant releasing the chemicals can be viewed as ‘speaking’ and the plant receiving them as ‘listening’ and then responding,” says chemical ecologist James Blande at the University of Eastern Finland.

Now we are discovering that air pollution can disrupt these communications. In one study, Blande and his colleagues put individual bumblebees into a box containing paper flowers resembling those of black mustard (芥末). When the scientists injected the scent of real black mustard flowers that grew in either a clean or polluted atmosphere the bumblebees’ reactions were unequivocal: they were immediately attracted to the unpolluted scent, while that from polluted air left them flying around aimlessly.

It’s not just the clarity of plant language that gets disrupted，the “loudness” is affected, too. To find out how much things have changed since pre-industrial times, Jose Fuentes at the University of Virginia and his colleagues made a computer model that included historic air pollution levels. It revealed that scents(气味)produced by flowers that could once be picked up kilometres away now travel as little as 200 metres.

Even between clean and dirty environments today, a similar reduction in signal can be seen. Take lima beans. When one plant is attacked by spider mites, it emits chemical signals that make others nearby produce more sugary nectar. This, in turn, attracts predatory mites, which eat the attackers. If the atmosphere is clean, Blande found, the beans easily communicate with neighbours growing 70 centimetres away. But in polluted conditions, their warning cries can’t be heard more than 20 centimetres away.

1. The writer mentions the novel The Day of the Triffids in order to_________.

A．show how far-fetched the novel is

B．introduce the topic of the passage

C．warn readers of a possible danger

D．illustrate a new discovery of plants

2. The word “unequivocal”（in paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to_________.

A．familiar	B．unpredictable
C．different	D．inter-related

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The scent of plants can’t travel in a shorter distance in polluted air

B．Classic novels are usually based on some proved scientific facts.

C．It was in pre-industrial times that pollution came into existence.

D．Warning cries made by insects are getting softer and softer.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Chemical signals vary with the age of plants.

B．Pollinators and insects either damage or benefit plants.

C．Pollution has an impact on the communication between plants.

D．Plants communicate with each other by means of what they emit.

10 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Mentally and Intellectually Harmful

Last month, the Indian Medical Association declared a public health emergency in New Delhi because of high levels of air pollution. Schools were shut and emergency traffic restrictions put in place.

New Delhi is far from alone. Our research into the    1     of air pollution in China shows that, in addition to the more obvious physical price, air pollution can also have serious negative effects on mental health and cognition (认知),    2     reducing a person’s happiness and their scores in verbal and mathematical tests.

Such harmful mental effects have serious negative consequences for livelihoods and human capital development, suggesting that development    3     should go beyond the traditional focus of boosting GDP in the developing world.

India's recent pollution emergency is the most    4     incidence(发生率)of dangerous air pollution, but smoggy skies have been a cause of growing    5     in most developing countries.

Major cities across the developing world---from Thailand to Brazil, to Nigeria---    6     experience pollution at several times the WHO safe limits. In fact, 98% of cities with more than 100.000    7     in low and middle-income countries fail to meet the WHO’s air quality guidelines.

India’s extreme levels of air pollution are well recognized, and examining the effects provides clear warnings for other countries seeking fast growth through rapid industrialization.

We used nationally     8     longitudinal (纵向)surveys on mental health and cognition, matched with daily air quality data for the time and place of interviews, to see what pollution does in a given time to individual happiness and cognitive performance. Because each person in our survey was     9    multiple times, we can control for the effect of individual characteristics on the outcome variables.

We found that worsening air quality led to a decrease in happiness that day    10    to about 10 percent of the reduced happiness one would experience form a negative major life event such as divorce.