Rising sea levels are threatening coastlines in China, for example in
The good news is
The development of electric vehicles is particularly
Ecological civilization has become the cornerstone (基石) of China’s long-term development strategy, much like climate action is
2 . Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civilization. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a person.
Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption.
For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without resulting in any environmental damage is impossible.
A.It’s certain that economic growth contributes a lot to our society. |
B.The traditional energy sources, which are commonly used nowadays, are considered to be the greatest polluters to the environment. |
C.However, nowadays the range of required goods has expanded significantly. |
D.There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment. |
E.Weather conditions, on the contrary, remains the same. |
F.Consequently, the pressure balance that is brought about by this current will be affected. |
G.What’s more, to produce economically practical energy, people unavoidably have to transform natural site. |
3 . The last time Jack Hanson took an airplane, he was a junior at the University of Vermont. To return from a term abroad in Copenhagen, he flew from Denmark,
But the next term, one of his professors asked students to
He was
So Mr. Hanson decided to stop
And he has never found travel more
Go more
A.pulled | B.stopped | C.stayed | D.played |
A.judge | B.consider | C.calculate | D.reduce |
A.performance | B.research | C.experiment | D.math |
A.accounted for | B.called for | C.figured out | D.turned out |
A.listed | B.combined | C.separated | D.bought |
A.shocked | B.embarrassed | C.entertained | D.bored |
A.explain | B.make | C.refuse | D.manage |
A.pleasure | B.waste | C.money | D.pollution |
A.driving | B.heating | C.flying | D.lighting |
A.incidents | B.stories | C.disasters | D.conditions |
A.joyful | B.dangerous | C.upset | D.expensive |
A.tell | B.believe | C.prove | D.describe |
A.delightful | B.inflexible | C.effective | D.unreasonable |
A.carefully | B.wildly | C.slowly | D.actively |
A.cooking | B.resting | C.relaxing | D.traveling |
4 . There is a kind of climate pollution that we can’t see clearly. It isn’t in our rivers, lands or skies, it is in our minds. When climate disinformation goes unchecked, it spreads like wildfire, undermining the existence of climate change and the need for urgent action.
Like the biosphere that sustains us, the health of our information ecosystems is vital to our survival. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to create new ways of seeing the disinformation that has come to define the age of fake news.
Social media sites are honed to grab our attention. Using sophisticated algorithms, the corporations behind them decide what billions of people see around the world, dictated by what keeps you hooked, but also by what the companies paying social media sites choose to put in front of you.
Powerful corporate actors deploy clever influence campaigns via ads targeted at specific users based on what social media firms know about those people. Major oil and gas companies have spent billions of dollars over the years persuading consumers about their green proofs, when only 1 per cent of their expenditure in 2019 was on renewable energy. This is known as corporate greenwashing. Still, fossil fuel firms maintain that their climate policies are “responsible” and “in line with the science”.
To expose the scale of corporate greenwashing online, I was part of a team that recently launched Eco-Bot.Net. Co-created with artist Rob “3D” Del Naja of the band Massive Attack and Dale Vince, a green entrepreneur, Eco-Bot. Net’s AI-powered website ran throughout the COP26 climate summit, exposing climate change misinformation by releasing a series of data drops for heavily polluting sectors, including energy, agribusiness and aviation.
Academic definitions of climate disinformation and greenwashing were used to unearth posts across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and visualize them on our website. Eco-Bot.Net then flagged greenwashing ads and posts on the original social media site with a public health warning.
By digging into our data, journalists have already revealed that companies are targeting specific demographics in order to influence public perceptions about climate change – and even alter government policy.
One data drop focused on the 100 biggest fossil fuel producers, companies that have been the source of 71 per cent of global carbon emissions. It found that 16 of these companies ran 1705 greenwashing and climate misinformation ads globally on Facebook and Instagram this year. In total, they spent more than £4 million creating influence campaigns that generated up to 155 million impressions.
Social media companies could end most of the harms from climate disinformation on their platforms if they wanted to. Flagging systems were swiftly introduced to warn users of posts containing disinformation about covid-19. The scientific consensus on human-caused global warming has been resolute for decades, so why can’t a similar flagging system be implemented for related disinformation?
It is true that Twitter and Facebook have both introduced climate science information hubs, but these are little more than PR exercises that fail to directly tackle climate disinformation on any kind of scale.
This epidemic of climate change disinformation on social media is eroding collective ideas of truth. In this post-truth age of disinformation, we hope that the public, the press and policy-makers will be able to use our data findings to see what is hidden by what we see online.
For the first time, we can witness the regional scale of corporate greenwashing. The era of climate denial and delay is largely over — except, as Eco-Bot.Net has revealed, on social media.
1. What does the word “undermine” in the first paragraph mean in the passage?A.Dig holes in the ground. | B.Make sth weaker at the base. |
C.Increase or further improve. | D.Put a stop to sth. |
A.give the readers a precise definition of corporate greenwashing |
B.show the dishonest claim by fossil fuel companies on their responsible climate policies |
C.demonstrate the huge investment the corporations made to exert powerful influence on the targeted social media users based on algorithm |
D.emphasize the tens of millions of dollars spent on renewable energy |
A.energy | B.agribusiness | C.aviation | D.social media |
A.They are willing to help but feel powerless to do so. |
B.They have the ability to make a change but refuse to do so as there are controversies over climate changes. |
C.They have the ability to make a change and have made some sincere but fruitless efforts on it. |
D.They lose their integrity in face of the money from the big corporations. |
5 . Two thirds of the ice in the glaciers (冰川) of the Alps is doomed! These glaciers will melt by the end of the century as global temperatures rise, according to a recent study.
Scientists claim that half the ice held in some 4,000 Alpine glaciers will disappear by 2050 due to global warming through the effect of past emissions. After that, even if carbon emissions drop to zero, two-thirds of the ice will still have melted by 2100. If emissions continue to rise at the current rate, the ice tongues will have all but disappeared from Alpine valleys by the end of the century. The most pessimistic prediction tells us that the Alps will be mostly ice-free by 2100. Only isolated ice patches would remain at high altitudes, representing five per cent, at most, of the ice volume seen today.
The researchers warn that the loss of these glaciers will mean much less water is available for farming and hydroelectricity, especially during droughts. It would also affect nature and tourism.
In February, a study found that a third of the huge ice fields in Asia’s towering mountain chains were also under threat for the same reasons. This will lead to serious consequences for almost two billion people who live downstream. Glaciers along the Hindu Kush and Himalayan range are at higher, colder altitudes. If global carbon emissions are not cut, however, two-thirds of their ice could be gone by 2100.
The latest research combined computer models with real-world data to forecast the fate of the glaciers. It used 2017 as its starting point. Unlike previous work, these models included how the glaciers move down the mountains. Applying this approach to other glaciated mountain chains could improve ice loss forecasts there.
Cutting the emissions from fossil-fuel burning, deforestation and other polluting activities is the biggest factor in minimizing the melting of the ice. The future of these glaciers is indeed at risk, but there is still a possibility of limiting their disappearance.
1. What does the underlined word “doomed” mean in paragraph 1?A.Polluted. | B.Discovered. | C.Endangered. | D.Abandoned. |
A.Emissions have much to do with the ice melting. |
B.The Alps is expected to lose all its ice by 2100. |
C.Ice loss will be avoided with emissions prevented. |
D.Large ice pieces will just exist at the mountain top. |
A.To explain how glacier melting came about. |
B.To imply pollution is a worldwide problem. |
C.To show what consequences ice melting will cause. |
D.To indicate the Alps is not alone to face ice melting. |
A.Objective. | B.Optimistic. | C.Critical. | D.Doubtful. |
Helen and her family moved to a new location in the city. Helen was excited because most of her friends lived in the same street.
It was the first morning in their new house. She woke up early that day and went out on her balcony (阳台). She was expecting wonderful, lovely birds and beautiful greenery with fresh air, but instead it was the complete opposite. There was garbage right outside their front gate. There were no trees and instead of the sweet chirping (鸟叫声) of birds, there were annoying g traffic noises. Helen was angry. “What is this? Why can’t someone do anything about it?” she thought. She went inside the living room. She sat at the dining table, thinking about what she could do about the pollution in her locality.
The next day at school, she went into her class and asked loudly, “Who’s fed up with stinking garbage?” This caught many students’ attention. “Who’s fed up with air pollution and the diseases spread by it?” This time many students answered, “Me!” Helen smiled and then said, “We must clean our surroundings. So help me get rid of the garbage. Help me pick it up! That’s the best thing we can do. We will all go to other classes and ask if they want to join us. I am sure as long as we work together, our community will become a better place!”
In the break time, they all went to other classes, and by the end of the school day, Helen had gathered almost 25 students ready to help her. The day before cleaning, the students took out their pocket money and bought garbage bags, masks and gloves.
注意:1. 续写词数应为120左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The big day came and the students gathered at the school gate.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soon the headmaster knew what the students did.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . It is late autumn—millions of gardeners across the northern hemisphere, pulled on their thickest sweaters, spent hours clearing large piles of leaves and packed them into plastic bags at the end of driveways.
In the US alone, nearly 10 million tonnes of garden waste go to landfill every year. That is a large amount of effort, not just from an environmental viewpoint but from that of our aching backs, too. So where does this advice come from? Well, it largely comes from the belief that thick fallen leaves can make plants under them unable to breathe, especially shorter grass. They shut down important photosynthesis (光合作用) and get in the way of the growth of the shorter grass. However, this received wisdom has recently been questioned by researchers at Wisconsin University.
The key finding of their new research was that although clearing fallen leaves is one of the most common gardening practices, it makes very little sense. In natural ecosystems, fallen leaves help return nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth to the soil, which greatly improves soil condition. Removing leaves year after year breaks this ecological (生态的) balance. Letting some leaves stick around to cover your garden is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem.
They further explained that if up to 50percent of your grass lawn (草坪) is covered by fallen leaves, you might as well go back indoors and put your feet up. The advantages of this light leaf coverage far outweigh the disadvantages—the leaves will quickly break down and help next year’s lawn grow far better than if you had cleared them. Only at over 50 percent coverage do the Wisconsin researchers recommend clearing.
So why not consider leaving the leaves? Save time, carbon and effort, and in exchange get a healthier lawn from this garden waste—that seems like a pretty good deal. And how many plastic bags could be saved by simply not binning fallen leaves every year? In the US alone, about 700 million.
1. What does the author describe in paragraph 1?A.An amazing autumn game. | B.A common sight in gardens. |
C.A hot attraction in the north. | D.An extreme weather event. |
A.Fallen leaves need not be cleared. |
B.Fallen leaves protect shorter grass. |
C.Fallen leaves block photosynthesis. |
D.Fallen leaves are hard to break down. |
A.it ruins city image | B.it breaks gardening rules |
C.it affects local economy | D.it causes ecological damage |
A.Doubtful. | B.Positive. | C.Unclear. | D.Worried. |
8 . If you’re looking for something fun to do, pack a picnic dinner and take your family or friends to a beautiful place to eat. However, there’s a wrong trend to view picnics as an excuse to transport food in single-use plastic containers. Sure, it means the cleanup is easy at the moment, but it just puts it off to a later point, when it takes the form of volunteer cleanups and landfill management.
●Use food containers smartly
Using reusable containers is the easiest way to reduce waste.
●Choose real cutlery (餐具)
Using washable dishes and cutlery for a picnic does not require much more work than single-use ones.
You’d have to carry the waste out anyway in a trash bag, so why not pack your dirty plates and cutlery into a bag and put them in the dishwasher at home?
●Think about the drinks
Forget the single-use, single-serve drink bottles.
●Put cloth bags to good use
Cloth bags are amazing. I use them for so much more than just buying food at the store. They’re perfect for packing sandwiches, dried or whole fruit, and other snack foods. You can use them to pack glasses or plates to prevent breaking. They can also work as a napkin, tea towel, or trash bag if needed.
A.Be sure to add a few to your picnic basket. |
B.There are some healthy dishes you can make or buy. |
C.To avoid this, a plastic-free picnic can be a brilliant idea. |
D.If you’re worried about breaking, take some light camping plates. |
E.Instead, just bring along a cloth tablecloth to spread on the ground. |
F.These create a huge amount of waste, which can be easily avoided. |
G.In addition, keep in mind that you don’t have to pre-pack everything. |
9 . From Dec 7 to 19, delegates from around the world met at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (also known as COP15), in Montreal, Canada. After two weeks of intense debate at COP15, delegates agreed on Dec 19 to adopt a landmark plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. “Finally, we reached our destiny. We adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China’s minister of ecology and environment, announced on Dec 19.
The new framework is a commitment by 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by the next decade. It also will increase the expected annual financial assistance from developed countries through 2030 to help developing nations with biodiversity protection.
The aim of COP15 is to ensure biodiversity loss is changed by 2030, and that humans are able to live in harmony with nature by 2050.To realize these objectives can be very challenging. At COP10 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the parties agreed on the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets (爱知生物多样性目标). But, as of now, none of the 20 objectives has been fully realized.
It is important to turn consensus into effective actions. Yet, as recent talks have shown, an aspect of effective international action on stopping climate change is the cooperation of developed countries. Developed countries, however, have fallen short of their responsibility as they have failed to fulfill the obligations according to the COP convention to provide funding and technology to poorer nations who lack the means to combat climate change.
To solve this problem, the framework creates a new biodiversity fund within the UN’s existing Global Environment Facility. This came about as a compromise between developing nations, which wanted a new fund, and developed countries, which did not. In addition, a global youth initiative (倡议) was also released, hoping young people to be leaders and advocates for biodiversity conservation.
1. What is the aim of COP15?A.To save at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by next decade. |
B.To stop biodiversity loss and promote harmony between man and nature. |
C.To strengthen the cooperation between developed and developing countries |
D.To provide funding and technology to poorer nations to fight climate change. |
A.To show the parties didn’t fulfill the obligation |
B.To show the objectives were too high to realize |
C.To show it is difficult to realize the objectives of COP 15 |
D.To show Japan didn’t hold the meeting successfully. |
A.Statistic. | B.Emotion. | C.Intervention. | D.Agreement. |
A.International cooperation is important. |
B.A new framework is made in the COP15. |
C.Joint efforts are needed to fight climate change. |
D.Historic COP 15 deals are released on biodiversity. |
10 . Working at an investment bank in New York City in the mid-2010s. Anna Sacks was living the life—just not the life she wanted. Sure, she was happy. But she wanted to do something that felt important and was fulfilling on a deeper level.
Sacks packed up her life and moved to Connecticut for three months to participate in Adamah, a Jewish farming program that focuses on sustainable living and growing sustainable food. The Adamah program opened Sacks’s eyes to the damage consumer culture is doing on a local, national, and global level, and the need to find solutions. From then on, she began what she calls “trash (垃圾) walking.”
While walking around her neighborhood, Sacks, 31, picked through rubbish to look for reusable items. Soon, her trash walks expanded to include company rubbish along with residential trash. Surprisingly, she discovered a wide range of really great stuff—like clothing, dinnerware, and food—all of which she documents on Instagram and TikTok.
Under the name The Trash Walker, Sacks quickly gained popularity for her educational, funny, and surprising videos that highlight the problems with consumerism and share information about how to live a more sustainable life. “The root issue is overproduction, which leads to overconsumption, which leads to a large amount of waste,” she says. Sacks’s videos have gone viral many times, causing shockwaves through the industries she calls out.
Trash walking has given Sacks a nearly endless supply and she shares much of her “treasure” with others. She tries giving them informally to family, friends, or individuals she knows may need a specific item. Then she takes the remaining items to free stores so other New Yorkers can benefit from her treasure-hunting.
Sacks’s main focus is simply getting people to pay attention to how many unnecessary things they buy and then throw away. “Once you become aware of the way you consume, you can see ways you improve,” she says.
1. What inspired Sacks to begin her “trash walking”?A.Her desire to live a richer life. | B.The great need for household stuff. |
C.Her involvement in a project. | D.The wish to be an Internet star. |
A.Funny stories. | B.Views on consumption. |
C.Educational courses. | D.Solutions to problems. |
A.She donates all to the charity. | B.She keeps most for her family. |
C.She gives away much to others. | D.She sells some to individuals. |
A.Trash Walker: Find Treasure in Trash. |
B.Trash Walking: A Tough Journey. |
C.Trash Walker: Live in the Moment. |
D.Trash Walking: A New Career. |