1 . In films and TV shows, police officers study fingerprints to catch bad guys. Now, conservationists (people who work to protect animals and the environment) are using a similar method to deal with the illegal overfishing of sharks.
Overfishing is when too many of a particular type of fish are caught, putting that species in danger. Many sharks are killed because of a high demand — and high price — for their fins. In some countries they are used to make shark fin soup, which some people believe is good for health. Around 100 species of sharks are protected by CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is an agreement between 184 countries that protects wildlife that is sold.
CITES has teams of people who visit ports and fish factories to look for evidence of protected species being illegally caught and sold. The idea is to punish those responsible and stop it happening, but finding evidence is difficult and can take a long time. Often, fish are sold before teams arrive and if a fish is cut up ready for sale, it’s hard to tell which species it was.
Scientists have come up with a process that studies “fish dust” — tiny traces of fish that get left on the floor at ports and factories, even after the fish have gone. Using a process called metabarcoding, they examine the DNA in it and can tell if the DNA is from a protected species. The scientists tested the method in Indonesia, where many sharks are caught and sold. They studied dust from seven sites and found evidence of 61 shark species — more than 80% of them CITES-protected. Dr. Andhika Prasetyo, the scientist who led the research, hopes the new method could soon be helping to protect endangered sea life.
1. What is the purpose of CITES?| A．To protect wildlife in the trade | B．To study the behavior of sharks. |
| C．To offer medical treatment to wildlife. | D．To stop overfishing in dangerous waters. |
| A．Observing endangered sharks up close. | B．Dealing with international problems. |
| C．Working with local fish factories. | D．Finding timely and effective evidence. |
| A．It has met the need for shark research. | B．It has begun to show promising results. |
| C．It has raised doubts in the fishing industry. | D．It has been introduced to different countries. |
| A．CITES: what it can tell us | B．DNA uncovers shark secrets |
| C．DNA tests could save sharks | D．The silent guardian of the sea: CITES |
2 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| D．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| A．A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| D．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| A．It is highly profitable. |
| B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
| D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
| B．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
In a small community located at a suburb of Exeter, a disheartening issue had been troubling the neighborhood for years. The once pleasant surroundings were ruined by piles of waste that seemed to multiply with each passing day. Residents were growing tired of the worsening environment, leading many to abandon their homes in search of cleaner neighborhoods. It was in this terrible situation that two young students, Emma and Mia, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Emma and Mia were classmates and best friends from Phillips Exeter Academy, both passionate about environmental preservation and deeply concerned about the pollution crisis their community was facing. Witnessing more and more neighbors’ leaving, they knew they couldn’t stand by any longer. Determined to bring about a change, they undertook a mission that would soon catch the attention of the entire community.
Their journey began with thorough research and planning. The two girls searched carefully on the Internet for information on environmental initiatives and connected with local environmentalists. They organized meetings with residents to understand the issues at hand, collecting data on the types of waste, the sources, and the areas most affected. Armed with this knowledge, Emma and Mia worked out a comprehensive plan and announced it to ask for opinions from the residents. Surprisingly it was strongly supported.
Their strategy was twofold. First, they initiated a waste classification and recycling program. They distributed recycling bins(回收箱) to every household and educated the community about the importance of responsible waste management. Soon, the streets began to show signs of improvement as the volume of garbage inappropriately thrown away decreased gradually.
The second part of their plan was more ambitious. Emma and Mia gathered volunteers from their school and the neighborhood to take part in a massive clean-up campaign. Armed with gloves and trash(垃圾)bags, they began systematically clearing the waste from the streets, parks, and even the local bodies of water. Their firm commitment and hard work inspired others to join the cause.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Half a year later, the changes were significant.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emma and Mia received recognition and honors for their work.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. By 2020, where should trash sorting happen?
| A．In all major cities of China. |
| B．Only in Zhejiang province. |
| C．In Ms. Chu’s neighborhood. |
| A．Trash collector. | B．Reporter. | C．Politician. |
| A．Door-to-door training. | B．Free trash cans. | C．Plastic trash bags. |
| A．He will call a volunteer. |
| B．He will see a name on the bag. |
| C．He will scan the bag with a phone. |
5 . China has seen great achievements in proving the environment and green development over the past 70 years. Solid efforts have been made to fight pollution and continuously improve the environment.
As President Xi Jinping has said, clear waters and green mountains are invaluable assets.
A series of campaigns have been carried out by the central government to improve the environment.
In Kubuqi, a desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Elion has greened 600,00 hectares of land and helped lift more than 102,000 people out of poverty through the development of solar energy and tourism, as well as planting herbs for traditional Chinese medicine.
In addition, the group’s techniques have also been used in many ecological programs, including the Yangtze River Ecological Park and the Qilian Mountain National Park.
“
| A．Pollution is getting worse and worse nowadays. |
| B．Desertification was a serious problem in the 1990s. |
| C．Once the environment get better, we will live a happier life. |
| D．Another example of the campaign is the Elion Resources Group. |
| E．We will come up with new ways to improve our ability to control the sand. |
| F．For example, in 1998, China started the Natural Forest Protection Program. |
| G．Efforts to create “green” areas have played an important role in the country’s fight against desertification. |
6 . Sea life near Turkey is being harmed by a layer of brown foam (泡沫) on the ocean’s surface. The foam, which many people are calling “sea snot”, is natural, but it’s caused by pollution and global warming.
The actual name for the foam is mucilage (粘液). Scientists first noticed and described mucilage in 2007, when it was found near Turkey. Then, it was also found in other parts of the Aegean Sea, near Greece. Mucilage covers the ocean’s surface with a thick, slimy layer that gives it the nickname of sea snot.
This year’s appearance of mucilage is the worst ever recorded. It’s been developing for seven months and is now covering large parts of the Sea of Marmara. The Sea of Marmara is an inland sea, surrounded by land belonging to Turkey, and connected to the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea.
There are many different kinds of algae (海藻), and it’s natural and normal for algae to grow in the ocean or in other bodies of water. But when there is lots of food for the algae, and other conditions are just right, algae would boom, which results in algae growing quickly and in huge numbers. And in very bad situations, mucilage is the result.
There are two main causes of the present appearance of mucilage. One is the heavy pollution — waste water and chemicals — flowing into the Sea of Marmara. The second cause is higher water temperatures because of climate change.
By covering the ocean’s surface, mucilage stops sunlight from reaching all the sea life below. “This mucilage is now covering the sea surface like a tent,” says Muharrem Balci, who teaches biology at Istanbul University. Because there is so much algae, it takes up lots of oxygen from the seawater. That means that there’s very little oxygen left for the other sea life that depends on it. The BBC reports that divers in the area are seeing large numbers of dying fish. After a while, the mucilage falls to the bottom of the ocean, where it covers the sea floor, poisoning sea life that lives there. The mucilage has already been found as deep as 30 meters below the surface.
Mahsum Daga, a local fisherman, told the reporter, “Do you know what it does to shellfish? When they open up, it prevents them from closing up again because it gets in the way. All the seasnails here are dead.”
1. What do we know about mucilage?| A．It generally doesn’t last long. | B．It was first noticed near Turkey. |
| C．It is the result of algae poisoning. | D．It is mainly formed in inland seas. |
| A．Shoot up. | B．Stand out. | C．Break down. | D．Take off. |
| A．The reason for the formation of mucilage is difficult to explain. |
| B．Mucilage is doing much more harm than good. |
| C．The present situation of mucilage needs attention. |
| D．Mucilage puts sea life in danger in different ways. |
| A．Sea life in Turkey is in great danger of extinction. |
| B．A new kind of poisonous algae is found in Turkey. |
| C．Turkey’s coastal waters are covered with mucilage. |
| D．Mucilage is likely to cause great damage to Turkey. |
7 . Dairy (奶品场) packaging has been changing a lot for so many years. Now, businesses are using technology to create more sustainable (可持续的) packaging options along the whole supply chain.
Ian Olmstead, program manager at Dairy Australia, says, “We’re trying to make sure the plastics we use are designed in a way that allows them to be recycled. Then we have partnerships in place that support the processes for recycling, and seek to increase the food-grade recycled content that can be used again in dairy packaging.”
Brownes Dairy — Australia’s oldest dairy has worked with Tetra Pak to make its next change. Brownes’ senior marketing manager, Nicole Ohm, says it has been important to create a product that not only is recyclable, but starts life in a sustainable way, too. “The start of life is just as important as the end of life,” she says. “Being able to make an effective change at the start of life just makes for a greener result.”
Milk packaging is made of three covers. Recyclable cardboard sits in the middle, with polyethylene (聚乙烯) plastic on both sides acting as a protection. Historically, these outer covers have been made from plastic, but Brownes’ new packaging will use a renewable resource: sugarcane, a kind of plant. “The plant-based protections behave in the same way,” Ohm says, “and so does the recyclability.” “Being Australia’s oldest dairy carries a level of responsibility,” Ohm says. “Even though we are very old, we are not at all traditional—we are very advanced.”
When it comes to plastic packaging, the dairy industry faces many challenges. Recyclable material must be food safe, for example. And one plastic milk bottle might contain a number of different plastics, from the bottle itself to its cover. Even the glue on the label becomes part of the recycling challenge that needs to be got over.
Dr Stephanus Peters is a managing partner at PEGRAS, a global technical solutions consulting company. Peters explains the problem PEGRAS has been asked to solve: make it easier to take away non-recyclable parts from milk bottles to avoid pollution. “You always have a little bit of glue left,” he says. “We have to take away the glue before the bottle can be recycled. If successful, this advance could be used in every industry.”
1. What change does Nicole Ohm expect to happen in dairy packaging?| A．It will be of excellent quality. | B．It will help keep the milk fresh. |
| C．It will reduce the cost of products. | D．It will be environmentally friendly. |
| A．It has more covers. | B．It is much more protective. |
| C．It uses plant-based materials. | D．It has a renewable middle cover. |
| A．The recycling may require a lot of steps. | B．The recycling may cause more pollution. |
| C．The recycling may take a mass of money. | D．The recycling may impact on food safety. |
| A．Set up a plastic-free dairy business. | B．Make its company a sustainable one. |
| C．Rid packaging of non-recyclable parts. | D．Come up with a type of recyclable glue. |
8 . The oceans play a crucial role in lightening global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions. However, in a study conducted by the University of Texas, researchers found that the oceans’ capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) would reach its maximum by 2100 and decrease to half of its current efficiency by 2300, based on a climate simulation (模拟) that was set for a worst-case emissions scenario (设想).
The decline happens because of a surface layer of low-alkalinity (碱度) water that can hinder the ability of the oceans to absorb CO₂. Alkalinity affects how much CO₂ can dissolve in seawater. Although the emissions scenario used in the study is unlikely because of global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the findings reveal a previously unknown tipping point that if activated would release an important brake on global warming.
“We need to think about these worst-case scenarios to understand how our CO₂ emissions might affect the oceans not just this century, but next century and the following centuries. Climate simulations had previously shown that the oceans slow their absorption of CO₂ over time, but none had considered alkalinity as an explanation. We recalculated pieces of a 450-year simulation until we hit on alkalinity as a key cause of the slowing.” said Megumi Chikamoto, who led the research at the University of Texas Institute.
The effect begins with extreme climate change, which slows ocean currents. This leaves the surface of the oceans covered in a warm layer of fresh water that won’t mix easily with the cooler, more al kaline waters below it. That means more of it is left behind in the atmosphere. This in turn produces faster warming, which sustains and strengthens the low-alkalinity surface layer. Co-author, Pedro DiNezio, said that the discovery was a powerful reminder that the world needs to reduce its CO₂ emissions to avoid crossing this and other tipping points.
1. What may happen after the year 2300?| A．More CO₂ will be absorbed by the oceans. |
| B．The oceans will lose all their current efficiency. |
| C．The world will face even more severe warming. |
| D．The oceans will be less crucial to global warming. |
| A．Improve. | B．Weaken. | C．Protect. | D．Control. |
| A．Finding why they slow CO₂ intake is hard. |
| B．Their ability to absorb CO₂ is at their maximum. |
| C．They will decide on the future of human beings. |
| D．They will slow down CO₂ absorption very quickly. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A government report. |
| C．Science fiction. | D．An environmental journal. |
9 . Trees don’t look at the calendar to see when spring arrives, but they seem to know when spring is here better than we do. The annual shift from winter to spring is a breathtaking event to watch as leaves become green and a lush (苍翠的) environment reveals itself. Recently a research takes a look at why trees in cities are turning green earlier than expected.
Scientists use satellite imagery to see when plants turn green. By comparing spring green-ups in the 85 largest US cities, scientists found that on average trees start to turn green nine days earlier in cities due to the combined effect of artificial lights and urban heat effect, According to the findings-one of the reasons is the artificial light. City lights brightening the night skies, billboard signs lit up on roadways and car headlights all contribute to shifting the regular day to night cycle that plants and trees rely on. In order to stay alive during cruel winters trees hit the pause button on their growth. Since temperatures can vary dramatically throughout the winter, the length of daylight is the signal trees look for to safely start growing again and turn green.
On average cities are typically 1.8 to 5.4F warmer than rural areas. This is known as the urban heat island effect. The changes in city environments may affect seasonal changes even more than climate warming and can affect the allergy and mosquito season, water cycles, and also affect pollinators (授粉媒介).
Despite the worries and concern, it isn’t all bad news. “With a longer growing season, trees would be able to absorb more carbon dioxide.” A researcher said. “Hopefully they’d have a longer period to do the cooling effect that can help mitigate the urban heating effect in cities.”
1. What is the purpose of the text?| A．To reveal how trees survive bitter winters. |
| B．To warn how human activities disturb nature. |
| C．To explain why trees turn green earlier in cities. |
| D．To clarify how trees turning green earlier benefits cities. |
| A．Bringing out urban heat island effect. |
| B．Developing pictures shot by the satellite. |
| C．Allowing the city environment to reveal itself. |
| D．Comparing the green-up time in sample cities. |
| A．Street lamps. | B．Water cycle. | C．Road signs. | D．Plant pollinators. |
| A．Business. | B．Education. | C．Life Kit. | D．Environment. |
10 . A new study says that no matter how much the world cuts back on greenhouse gases, a large and important part of ice of Antarctica (南极洲) is expected to disappear.
Researchers used computer models to expect the future melting (融化) of protective ice around Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. They said the melting will take hundreds of years. It will slowly add nearly 1.8 meters to sea levels. And it will be enough to change where and how people live in the future.
The study found that even if future warming was limited to just a few tenths of a degree more, it would have limited power to prevent ocean warming that could lead to the breakdown of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Study lead writer Kaitlin Naughten is an expert on oceans at the British Antarctic Survey. She said their research suggests that Earth is set on the path to a quickly increasing speed of ocean warming and ice shelf melting over the rest of the century.
While past studies have talked about how serious the situation is, Naughten was the first to use computer modeling to study how warm water from below will melt the ice. The study looked at four different cases in how much greenhouse gases the world produces. In each case, ocean warming was just too much for this area of the ice to survive.
Naughten looked at floating areas of ice that hold back glaciers (冰川). Once these areas of ice melt, there is nothing to stop the glaciers behind them from flowing (流) into the sea.
The study also looked at what would happen if future warming was limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius over mid-19th century levels: the international goal. They found the rapid melting process in this case as well.
The world has already warmed about 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times and much of this summer went past the 1.5 degrees mark.
1. Which can best describe the findings of the study?| A．Cheerful. | B．Encouraging. | C．Misleading. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．Her research area. | B．Her research time. |
| C．Her research method. | D．Her research purpose. |
| A．They will flow into the sea. | B．They protect the Antarctic ice. |
| C．They have warmed about 1.2℃. | D．They disappear faster than other ice. |
| A．Ice in Parts of Antaretica Will Disappear | B．Climate Change Will Harm Humans |
| C．Sea Level Will Rise Suddenly in the Future | D．Limiting Greenhouse Gases Makes No Sense |
