1 . Flash floods can strike without warning. They can hit when you’re hiking in a river valley, walking through a canyon, or even simply driving to a remote destination. You can minimize your risk by knowing how to prepare for the worst and how to escape when a flood begins.
Before heading out, check the weather report, look at any flood warnings and take them seriously.
Be careful of any visual signs of danger and your surroundings while walking or hiking in a tight space.
What if, despite your preparations, you find yourself stuck in a dangerous place when flooding begins? Move to higher ground immediately, away from rivers and streams. If the situation is urgent, leave behind your possessions.
| A．Avoid walking through moving water. |
| B．No bag or equipment is worth your life. |
| C．It takes hours for the flood waters to move away. |
| D．Hundreds of people die due to drowning inside their vehicles. |
| E．Be careful not to let your excitement drive you to take any chances. |
| F．Keep these tips in mind the next time you head out for an outdoor adventure. |
| G．The sudden arrival of dark clouds during a perfectly sunny day is one obvious sign. |
2 . How to Prepare for an Earthquake
An earthquake can be a very destructive natural disaster, particularly in the Pacific Rim region. After an earthquake, your home may be a mess and you might be left without a water supply or power.
· Create a disaster plan.
Form your plan and know what to do before the earthquake happens.
In a real earthquake, this is your number one defense. Drop to the floor, take cover under a firm desk or table and hold on firmly. Namely, drop and cover your head from falling objects. Stay there until the shaking stops.
·Learn basic first aid.
There are resources in your community to educate people on how to deal with first aid emergencies.
·Write down and share emergency contact lists.
This should include everyone in your home, office, etc.
| A．Stay away from the shaking house. |
| B．Practice “drop, cover and hold on”. |
| C．Then go over your plan on a regular basis. |
| D．Therefore, you can turn to your family for help. |
| E．You need to know how to get in touch with them. |
| F．There are several things you can do to prepare for an earthquake. |
| G．For example, your local Red Cross has classes teaching you the basic skills. |
3 . A lot of manufactured glass today made from sand and sodium carbonate(碳酸钠) can be reused or melted down and recycled into new items, but it doesn’t break down in the environment and will sit in landfills for thousands of years. A team of Chinese scientists aimed to deal with this environmental concern by developing an eco-conscious alternative.
In a study published recently in the journal Science Advances, a team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Process Engineering describe how they engineered biodegradable glass made from amino acids(氨基酸). That glass would have a smaller impact on the environment and can break down in a few weeks or in several months.
In a test, glass beads(玻璃珠) made out of amino acids were placed under the skin of mice, and the breakdown of the bead and the skin healing process were observed for 30days. A diagram from the study shows how the mice’s bodies broke down the beads. In that month, the glass implant degraded beneath the skin, the wound site healed, and fur grew back. “Throughout the experimental period, no mice exhibited any pain-related behavior that may have been caused by the glass implantation, and none of them experienced obvious weight loss,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
Although amino acids do degrade over time in the environment, this biodegradable glass is not as durable as traditional glass, because amino acids can break down quickly in heat. In order to overcome this hurdle, the researchers chemically modified the amino acids using the heating-cooling procedure applied in glass manufacturing. This is when materials for the glass are heated to become soft and then rapidly cooled so as to make the glass tougher.
“It’s important to point out that this biodegradable glass is currently in the lab stage, and far from large-scale commercialization,” emphasized Yan Xuehai, a professor involved in the study, in a press release.
1. What is an advantage of the new glass?| A．It takes less time to break down. |
| B．It can be recycled at a low cost. |
| C．It is produced without pollution. |
| D．It has a wide range of applications. |
| A．To assess whether the glass is biologically harmless. |
| B．To investigate why amino acids are medically useful. |
| C．To explore how long it takes for the glass to degrade. |
| D．To observe if the glass can be melt down in mice’s stomach. |
| A．The challenge of improving the heating-cooling procedure. |
| B．Environmental problems caused by traditional glass. |
| C．The difficulty of selecting materials for the glass. |
| D．The instability of amino acids. |
| A．Amin o Acids Make Glass Tougher |
| B．Amin o Acids Cast New Light on Science |
| C．Biodegradable Glass: Closer to Sustainability |
| D．Biodegradable Glass: Ready to Hit the Market |
4 . Cows produce much methane (甲烷) the world’s second worst greenhouse gas, as they break down the grass. They are a large source of the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Now scientists have shown the pollution from cows can be reduced by adding a little seaweed (海藻) to their food.
Recently, the researchers from the University of California studied 21 cows on a farm for about five months. They taught the cows to get their food from inside a special hood, which allowed the scientists to know the amount of the methane the cows were giving off. They added a small amount of seaweed to the cows’ food.
The consequences were surprisingly good. In some cases, the cows produced 82% less methane. The improvement depended on the kind of food the cows were given. Even the worst-polluting cows produced 33% less methane. Over the five months, the scientists didn’t see any signs that the cows’ stomachs were getting used to the seaweed and starting to produce more methane again. What’s more, the cows that were fed seaweed gained just as much weight as the other cows.
But there are still some big problems with the idea of feeding cows seaweed. For one thing, there’s not enough seaweed to feed all of the cows in the world. So farmers would have to figure out a way to grow lots of seaweed. A bigger problem is that for most of their lives, cows live in the fields, where they eat grass. That means there’s no chance to feed them seaweed every day.
Still, as the study shows, something as simple as feeding cows seaweed can help reduce some of the pollution causing the climate crisis.
1. Why did the researchers carry out the study?| A．To test the effects of the seaweed. |
| B．To discover healthier grass for cows. |
| C．To improve the cows’ living conditions. |
| D．To measure the amount of methane in the world. |
| A．The background of the subject. | B．The results of the study. |
| C．The content of the experiment. | D．The process of the research. |
| A．Seaweed is not as tasty as grass. |
| B．Seaweed is dying out in the world. |
| C．Cows fed with seaweed gained weight easily. |
| D．Cows can hardly have daily access to seaweed. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Negative. |
1. Where did the speaker move things from the yard?
| A．Into the garage. | B．Into the basement. | C．Into the storeroom. |
| A．Some flashlights. | B．A radio. | C．Food and water. |
| A．About 80 miles an hour. |
| B．About 90 miles an hour. |
| C．About 100 miles an hour. |
| A．She listened to the news on the radio. |
| B．She looked after her husband. |
| C．She stayed in the bathroom. |
6 . On 20 December, in Newdale, a series of huge waves caused by an undersea Earthquake raced across the ocean near Goldshore. Worse still, it
The day began like any other on Gold shore Beach. People were walking, running or simply sitting on the sandy beach,
Sabrina was
| A．brought | B．left | C．affected | D．led |
| A．survive | B．recognize | C．revive | D．quit |
| A．impression | B．knowledge | C．wisdom | D．detail |
| A．taking in | B．making up | C．focusing on | D．checking out |
| A．sunshine | B．wind | C．whistle | D．wave |
| A．unique | B．powerful | C．attractive | D．strange |
| A．narrow | B．adventurous | C．calm | D．distant |
| A．damages | B．signs | C．effects | D．results |
| A．confused | B．embarrassed | C．frightened | D．annoyed |
| A．stress | B．development | C．credit | D．danger |
| A．cheating | B．debating | C．joking | D．helping |
| A．under control | B．on hand | C．on schedule | D．on its way |
| A．actually | B．anxiously | C．curiously | D．immediately |
| A．revived | B．warned | C．cleared | D．reminded |
| A．crashed | B．slid | C．divided | D．tapped |
7 . Natural disasters take many different forms and can happen without warning. Earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, droughts, typhoons, and hurricanes are all natural disasters.
The earthquake of 26 December 2004 resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in living memory. It was a massive (大规模的) underwater quake and occurred in the Indian Ocean. This caused a huge tsunami to cross the Indian Ocean. It destroyed coastlines and communities and brought death and destruction (破坏) to many people. The survivors needed fresh water, food and shelter as well as medical help. People from all over the world collect money to help them.
The surface of the Earth has not always looked as it does today; it is moving continuously although very slowly and has done so for billions of years. This is one cause of earthquakes, when one section of the Earth crashes with another. Scientists can predict (预测) where this might happen and the area between plates is called a fault line. However, earthquakes do not always happen on fault lines, which is why they are so dangerous and unpredictable.
All the disasters are very dangerous and continue to kill thousands of people each year, but they are nowhere near the most dangerous disaster to ever happen on earth. One type of event in the earth’s history has regularly killed millions of beings: asteroid impacts (小行星撞击). About once every million years the Earth is hit by a piece of rock and ice from space large enough to cause massive destruction (including earthquakes, volcanoes and ice ages) and sometimes to kill entire species. Sixty-five million years ago more than half the earth’s species were killed by such a disaster, including all the dinosaurs. Disasters on the Earth may seem dangerous, but the biggest threat to humans is likely to come from space.
1. What did the Indian Ocean earthquake cause?| A．A hurricane. | B．A typhoon. | C．A volcanic eruption. | D．A tsunami. |
| A．The possible time. | B．The possible place. |
| C．The possible damage. | D．The possible frequency. |
| A．The ocean. | B．The poles. |
| C．Outer space. | D．Deep under the surface. |
| A．How natural disasters happened |
| B．Where natural disasters happened most |
| C．When people should avoid natural disasters |
| D．What kind of natural disasters are most destructive |
Kilauea has been erupting almost without stopping since 1983. It is one of the world’s most
Scientists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and University of Hawaii are studying
Hundreds of small earthquakes caused by the eruptions have damaged the structure of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. So the scientists were forced
9 . As university doors opened in September for a new year, an estimated six million people across the world took to the streets in a historic week of climate action. For freshers starting a new chapter at university, deciding how to live your life is vital.
What you put on your plate matters. Meat and dairy consumption results in excessive (过度的) land use, industrial emissions, water use and deforestation.
Change your habits.
Individual actions matter, as they demonstrate commitment and provide an alternative to how we can live. But campaigning is important, too.
| A．Forget fast fashion. |
| B．Behave yourself in public. |
| C．While shopping, turn up with your own container. |
| D．University campus can be a perfect place for this. |
| E．Cutting out meat is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. |
| F．Here are some ideas about how you can be sustainable as a student. |
| G．For freshers, living alone means doing your own washing, cooking and cleaning. |
10 . According to a new USDA(the U.S.Department of Agriculture)report,U.S.forests could worsen global warming because they are being destroyed by natural disasters and are losing their ability to absorb planet-warming gases as they get older.The report predicts that the ability of forests to absorb carbon will start declining after 2025 and that forests could release up to 100 million metric tons of carbon a year as their emissions from decaying(腐烂)trees go above their carbon absorption.Forests could become a“substantial carbon source”by 2070,the USDA report says.
The loss of carbon absorption is driven in part by natural disasters such as wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes,which are increasing in frequency and strength as global temperatures rise.The disasters destroy forestland,destroying its ecosystem and decreasing its ability to absorb carbon,according to Lynn Riley,a senior manager of climate science at the American Forest Foundation.Aging forests also contribute.The report found that older,mature trees absorb less carbon than younger trees of the same species,and U.S.forests are rapidly aging.
This trend is likely to continue,as forests come under increasing threat from climate change and exploitation(开采).The typical tropical forest may become a carbon source by the 2060s,according to Simon Lewis,professor in the school of geography at Leeds University. “Humans have been lucky so far,as tropical forests are cleaning up lots of our pollution,but they can’t keep doing that indefinitely,”he said.“We need to cut down fossil fuel emissions before the global carbon cycle starts working against us.”
U.S.forests currently absorb 11 percent of U.S.carbon emissions,or 150 million metric tons of carbon a year,equal to the combined emissions from 40 coal power plants,according to there port.The loss of forests as natural carbon absorbers will require the U.S.to cut emissions more rapidly to reach net zero.“As we work to decarbonize(碳减排),forests are one of the greatest tools.If we were to lose that tool,it means we will contribute that much more in emissions,”Riley said.
1. What is the main finding of the report?| A．Forests are suffering from decaying trees. |
| B．Forests could contribute to global warming. |
| C．Forests are being destroyed by natural disasters. |
| D．Forests have become substantial carbon absorbers. |
| A．The key role of forests in the ecosystem. |
| B．The consequences of frequent natural disasters. |
| C．The impact of rising global temperatures on forests. |
| D．The reasons for forests’ declining ability to absorb carbon. |
| A．Reducing fossil fuel emissions. |
| B．Cleaning up decaying trees in time. |
| C．Planting trees on a large scale. |
| D．Limiting the exploitation of forests. |
| A．To offer suggestions on forest management. |
| B．To stress the significance of forest protection. |
| C．To present the efforts made to reach net zero. |
| D．To show the carbon emissions from coal power plants. |
