1 . Putting more green space around a school may help students develop some mental abilities, a study suggests. Researchers tested students repeatedly over the course of a year on attentiveness (专注力)and working memory, which is the ability to keep something in mind temporarily for performing a task. On the whole, students whose schools were surrounded by more green space improved more than pupils from schools with less green space.
The study tracked more than 2,000 students in 36 primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. The pupils were in the second to fourth grades when the study began. Green space may help mental development by reducing air pollution from vehicles, according to an article by the researchers that included pollution data from the schools. It may also help by reducing noise and encouraging physical activity, researchers said.
Policy makers should know that “more green around the school is better for cognitive development and that they should make sure that kids can see and play in green areas,” one author Mark Nieuwenhuijsen said. “Existing urban schools should think about replacing concrete or other hard surfaces with green space,” he suggested, “and even a few trees may help.”
The researchers used satellite images to group schools according to how much green space appeared on the school grounds and within about 55 yards of the school property. Their analysis showed that differences in socio-economic factors between schools did not account for the study outcome.
Sally Augustin, a psychologist, said the results made sense to her. She said the results fit with previous findings that views of nature help children and adults lower stress and perform mental tasks better.
1. What does the text mainly tell us?| A．Green space makes schools more beautiful. |
| B．Schools are lack of green space for students. |
| C．Students’ mental abilities need to be improved. |
| D．Green space is good for students’ mental abilities. |
| A．Moved. | B．Helped. | C．Followed. | D．Found. |
| A．More trees should be planted for kids. |
| B．Noise should be cleared near the school. |
| C．Kids should be encouraged to play more sports. |
| D．Air pollution should be reduced from vehicles. |
| A．To show a different opinion. |
| B．To introduce another interesting study. |
| C．To present Augustin’s view about the study. |
| D．To make the findings of the study more convincing. |
| A．Health. | B．Education. | C．Nature. | D．Technology. |
2 . Be a Green Guest
When people take a vacation, they often take vacation from responsibility, too. Our behavior at hotels is one of the biggest problems. We have our linens(纺织品) washed daily for us, and are provided with an endless stream of hot water — what’s not to love about that? But all of this luxury equals serious consequences for the environment. More and more hotels are becoming eco-friendly. They offer programs and facilities that save water and energy. That’s a good start,
•Just say “no” to hotel shampoos
In America alone, there are about 50,000 hotels. Hotel management normally leaves out two small bottles for each hotel room every day.
•Turn off the lights.
•
Sure, it’s a luxury to have sheets and towels cleaned every day, but that’s all it is. Washing a set of bed sheets and a pair of bathroom towels requires about 12-16 gallons of water. See if there is a policy for requesting that your towels and linens get washed weekly.
| A．You do it when you’re at home, right? |
| B．Don’t shower too many times in hotels. |
| C．Don’t have your linens washed every day. |
| D．but they can do more to reduce these energy waste. |
| E．The little plastic bottles may not even get recycled. |
| F．but there is a lot more you can do to cut down the amount. |
| G．In some hotels, it’s as simple as hanging towels back up on a hook. |
Those who haven’t been to the Mu Us may not have an opportunity to do so. The desert is disappearing from
The Mu Us
However, the area was no desert in ancient times. It used to be grazing land
In modern times, the Mu Us, the fourth
Thanks to greening, the desert is poised to disappear. The feat(丰绩) wouldn’t have been achieved
4 . Most of us are aware that we must take care of the environment, and the majority of us take steps to save energy and reduce waste and pollution. But recently, some “green truths” have been shown to be only half true, or even completely false.
Eating local food is good for the environment.
It seems like common sense: eating local food should be better for the environment, because it does not need to be transported long distances and kept cold during transport.
It depends on how long you spend in the shower and how large your bath is. If you spend more than eight minutes in a shower, you'll use as much water as in a bath—about 50 litres of water. Therefore, the key is to keep your shower time as short as possible.
Paper shopping bags are better than plastic ones.
Plastic bags cause litter and are a danger to wild animals.
However, making a paper bag uses four times as much energy as making a plastic bag and up to three times the amount of water. The process also produces more greenhouse gases.
Environmental awareness is now part of daily life. But it’s worth checking common ideas and opinions to see what's really green.
| A．They mistake them for food. |
| B．Here are some common ones. |
| C．Unfortunately, it is not that simple. |
| D．It’s better to take a shower than a bath. |
| E．A paper bag is more environmentally friendly. |
| F．In fact, both kinds of bags are bad for the environment. |
| G．When we turn off a machine, it goes into a stand-by state. |
5 . The air is thin and we have to rest several times on the short trip from camp. On the plain (平原), we can just see many wild animals. This is why we're here to observe Tibetan antelopes.
Tibetan antelopes live on the plains of Tibet,Xinjiang and Qinghai.Watch them move slowly across the green grass. I'm attracted by the lovely animals.I'm also reminded of the danger they are in. They are being killed for their valuable fur.
My guide Zhaxi works at the Changtang National Nature Reserve. The reserve is a place for the animals and plants of northwestern Tibet. To Zhaxi, protesting the wildlife is a way of life."We're not tying to save the animals.” he says,"Actually, we're trying to save ourselves."
Between the 1980s and 1990s, the population of the Tibetan antelope dropped by over 50 percent. People were shooting antelopes to make profits. Their living places were becoming smaller as new roads and railways were built.
In order to save the animals, the Chinese government placed them under national protection. Zhaxi and other volunteers watched over the antelopes day and night to keep them safe from attacks. Bridges and gates were added to let the antelopes move easily and keep them safe from cars and trains.
The measures were effective. The antelope population has recovered and in June 2015.the Tibetan antelope was removed from the list of animals in danger. The government, however,does not intend to stop the protection programs, since the threats (威胁) to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared.
Much is being done to protect wildlife but if we really want to save the planet, we must change our way of life. We can stop being a threat to wildlife and to our planet only when we learn to exist in peace with nature.
1. The author went to Tibet in order to .| A．breathe fresh air in Tibet | B．enjoy the scene in Tibet |
| C．learn the history of Tibet | D．observe Tibetan antelopes |
| A．In Tibet. | B．In Xinjiang |
| C．In Qinghai. | D．In Sichuan |
| A．Tibetan antelopes were well protected. |
| B．Tibetan antelopes population dropped |
| C．Tibetan antelopes lived in peace with people |
| D．Tibetan antelopes destroyed new roads and railways, |
| A．Useless | B．basic | C．successful | D．simple |
| A．To kill the Tibetan antelope. | B．To study the Tibetan antelope. |
| C．To watch the Tibetan antelope. | D．To protect the Tibetan antelope. |
6 . The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution. But there’s a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.
Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.
In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can produce more than 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.
This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorb other pollutants.
Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution.” Even though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he's had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design-his research project that seeks to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer. Only one women’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.
1. What has happened during the past five years?| A．Fabric has become much stronger. | B．Plastic pollution has been less serious. |
| C．Many plastic bottles have been reused. | D．Microfibers have been greatly improved. |
| A．It is adding microfibers to the clothes. |
| B．It is worsening environmental problems. |
| C．It is making synthetic clothes last longer. |
| D．It is doing great damage to washing machines. |
| A．It has achieved great success. | B．It hasn’t got anything done. |
| C．It is known to very few people. | D．It is facing some difficulties. |
| A．It’s important to learn to recycle |
| B．It’s never easy to solve pollution problems |
| C．Recycled plastic clothing: solution or pollution? |
| D．Are human beings moving forward or backward? |
7 . We need to be responsible for our environment. Being a frugal consumer (节俭的消费者) is one way to help.
Use It Up.
You can use things up instead of wasting them. Squeeze (挤) that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.
Wear It Out.
You do not always need to have new things. Suppose your sneakers (运动鞋) have broken laces (鞋带) , but they still fit you. Repair them and wear them longer. You don’t have to have the latest iPhone until the old one doesn’t work any more. Then you can get a new one.
Make It Do.
When something you want is not on hand, look for something else that you already have to take its place. Suppose you are packing your lunch for tomorrow and want a butter sandwich. You are out of butter. Have a cheese sandwich instead so you can use all of the cheese. Learn to fix broken toys instead of just throwing them away.
Think about all those things that you would like to have. Do you really need them? How long will you really play with that new toy you saw on TV? Making the things that we want uses up our world’s resources (资源). And, getting rid of the things we don’t want any more takes up even more resources and space.
| A．Do without it. |
| B．Throw it away. |
| C．What exactly does that mean? |
| D．Do you know what to consume? |
| E．Use the last little piece of soap. |
| F．With a little thought, you can make something do. |
| G．Think twice before replacing something that still works. |
