1 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well underway. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.
Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles reveals a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries, containing almost 300 pounds of lead in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leak into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable but deadly business.
Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an extraordinary scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world — and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare — causes one of the biggest environmental crises in the world yet receives little attention.
The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5. 5 million people per year, which would make it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is extraordinary, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.
But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that is fixable with some attention and a relatively modest financial investment. Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the dreadful effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.
1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?A.By making a comparison. | B.By analyzing hidden causes. |
C.By listing convincing numbers. | D.By explaining its working principle. |
A.Lead enters rich countries in various ways. |
B.Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer. |
C.Exposure to lead doesn’t necessarily harm someone. |
D.Lead leaking has caused great panic in both countries. |
A.Fixing these used batteries. | B.Putting certain effort and money. |
C.Prohibiting the illegal use of lead. | D.Reducing the cost of recycling lead. |
A.The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Human Health |
B.The Outcomes of Using Electric Vehicles |
C.The Ways to Solve Lead Problem |
D.The Global Lead Poisoning Crisis |
2 . There are hundreds of great national nature reserves in China. Now feast your eyes on the following amazing ones.
Qinghai Lake National Nature ReserveQinghai Lake, China’s largest saltwater lake in Qinghai Province, is a key body of water for lots of animals and birds. As an important stopover, migratory birds (候鸟) would rest in this area during their movement trip every year. The reserve became a national nature reserve in the year of 1997.
Bayanbulak National Nature ReserveThe only Bayanbulak Wetland, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is at the foot of Tianshan Mountains, which makes itself suitable for migratory birds. Bayanbulak means “rich spring water” in Mongolian, meaning that the area is rich in water. Every year, swans (天鹅) from different places fly here for nesting, which became a national swan reserve in 1986.
Rongcheng Swan National Nature ReserveAs one of the largest wintering places for swans in China, this reserve in Shandong Province mainly protects whooper swans (大天鹅), which make it different from other nature reserves. In 2007, it was changed into a national nature reserve. Now every year, thousands of whooper swans arrive here to spend the winter, making it an important resting and wintering place for themselves.
Sanya Coral Reef (珊瑚礁) National Marine Nature ReserveThis reserve focuses on protecting coral reefs and their living environment in Sanya City, Hainan Province. In 1990, it became a national nature reserve. This reserve is on the coast, so the area of the reserve has good water quality and many kinds of creatures,
1. What do the first reserve and the second reserve have in common?A.The area of wetland. | B.The geography of them. |
C.The year of becoming the national reserve. | D.The friendly environment for migratory birds. |
A.Its saltwater lake. | B.The whooper swans. |
C.Its rich spring water. | D.The warm climate. |
A.Bayanbulak National Nature Reserve. | B.Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve. |
C.Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve. | D.Sanya Coral Reef National Marine Nature Reserve, |
3 . The world’s animal populations have decreased by more than two-thirds since 1970, according to a recent research from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The London group provided information on 32,000 wildlife populations which included more than 5,000 species. The researchers found that population sizes had reduced by 69 percent on average. They said the loss of forests, human exploitation (开发) of the environment, pollution, and climate change were great causes of the loss. Land-use change is still the biggest threat (威胁) to wildlife. However, the researchers added, “if we cannot limit warming to 1.5℃, climate change is likely to become the primary cause of biodiversity (生物多样性) loss in the coming years.”
Wildlife populations in Latin American and the Caribbean Sea area were greatly affected. The research showed a 94 percent drop in those areas in over 50 years. Wildlife populations in river and lake habitats decreased the most. Freshwater populations have reduced by an average of 83 percent since 1970. For example, one population of pink river dolphins in the Amazon River area of Brazil fell by 65 percent between 1994 and 2016.
These findings are a red flag that warns of a larger system failure on the horizon. Even one species’ population reduction can affect other species, eventually impacting the ecosystem’s (生态系统) ability to function. Humans depend on a stable climate, predictable weather patterns, and productive farmland and fisheries to thrive (蓬勃发展), but the current trends are severe enough to threaten many life-sustaining systems.
Our future depends on reversing (扭转) the loss of nature just as much as it depends on addressing climate change. And you can’t solve one without solving the other. Everyone has a role in reversing these trends, from individuals to companies to governments. If nothing changes, animal populations will undoubtedly continue to fall, driving wildlife to extinction and threatening the wholeness of the ecosystems on which we all depend.
1. Which may be the main cause of the decrease of the wildlife populations in the future?A.Illegal hunting. | B.Global warming. |
C.Land-use change. | D.Environmental pollution. |
A.By listing data. | B.By telling a story. |
C.By referring to a concept. | D.By analyzing the causes. |
A.Because the reduction of species will impact the ecosystem. |
B.Because humans will be the biggest threat to the wildlife. |
C.Because the increase of species’ population will threaten human beings. |
D.Because the humans have been expecting to thrive. |
A.Animals. | B.Animal protection organizations. |
C.Research teams. | D.Human beings. |
Earthquakes are quite common. In fact, thousands of earthquakes are happening almost at every moment.
As one of the most deadly
Besides the great damage and deaths
5 . In the summer of 2021, an unseasonal event took place. More than 100 miles of Florida’s coast around Tampa Bay became an oxygen-depleted (缺氧的) zone containing dead fish along the nearby shoreline.
Much of the conversation around our climate crisis highlights the emission of greenhouse gases and their effect on warming, sea-level rise and ocean acidification (海洋酸化). We hear little about the effect of climate change on oxygen levels, particularly in oceans and lakes. But water without adequate oxygen cannot support life. For the three billion people who depend on coastal fisheries for income, declining ocean oxygen levels are devastating.
As ocean and atmospheric scientists focus on climate, we believe that oceanic oxygen levels are the next big victim of global warming. To stop the situation from worsening, we need to expand our attention to include the dangerous state of oceanic oxygen levels — the life-support system of our planet. We need to accelerate ocean-based climate solutions that boost oxygen. Examples include nature-based solutions such as those discussed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow.
Enhanced monitoring of oxygen and the establishment of an oxygen-accounting system are a must. Putting oxygen into the climate story motivates us to do the work to understand the deep systemic changes happening in our complex atmospheric and oceanic systems. We celebrated the return of humpback whales in recent years to an increasingly clean New York Harbor and Hudson River. However, dead fish blocked the Hudson in the summer as warmer waters carried less oxygen.
Ecosystem changes connected to physical and chemical system-level data may point the way to new approaches to climate solutions. It includes an enhanced understanding of the life-support system of our planet. Roughly 40 percent of the world’s people depend on the ocean for their livelihoods. If we do not save marine life from oxygen starvation, we starve ourselves.
1. What is the result of less ocean oxygen according to the text?A.A rise in the coastal fisheries. | B.The warming of the atmosphere. |
C.The emission of greenhouse gases. | D.An increase in deaths of sea animals. |
A.Attention to oceans is necessary. | B.Global warming effects are serious. |
C.Oceanic oxygen levels are dangerous. | D.Ways to boost oceanic oxygen are urgent. |
A.To bring in an oxygen-accounting system in climate. |
B.To explain the urgency of oxygen levels in atmosphere. |
C.To call for more attention to oxygen starvation in waters. |
D.To show the achievements in reducing air pollution. |
A.Save Marine Life. | B.Make Oceans Safe. |
C.Let Oceans Breathe. | D.Keep Marine System. |
1.水的重要性;2. 浪费的现象;3. 倡议的内容。
注意:1.词数80左右;2.可适当增加细节使行文流畅。
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内容包括:
1.你身边的环境问题;
2.相应的解决办法。
注意:1.词数80左右;
2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, listed on the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the United Nations,
The
For example, since 2015, under the guidance of the local government of Ar Horqin Banner, the number of sheep and goats in the nomadic system
9 . 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 |
Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeastern Hebei. For several days, the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. There were deep cracks
At 3:42 a. m., everything began to shake. It seemed as