1. 活动目的;
2. 活动过程;
3. 活动反响。
提示词:自然灾害体验馆 (Natural Disaster Experience Hall)
注意:写作词数应为80左右。
2 . Imagine a new smartphone product. It works the same as any other smartphone, but when dropped, those cracks that appear after an annoying fall slowly begin to fade away, and the phone magically repairs itself、A team of researchers led by chemistry professor Takuzo Aida have found a way to create self-repairing plastics that can be used in smartphones, cars and other products. But their new plastics won’t only be used to create unbreakable products, but also help the fight against growing wastes harming the planet.
91% of plastic is non-recyclable and filling Earth with waste. The increasing plastic in landfills is a growing concern due to its negative environmental impact. In 2019 about only9% of plastics were recycled globally, leading Japanese scientists to seek to find plastic that can start its own formation or self-repair.
The self-repairing plastics are made by adding a tiny amount of a specialized substance into ordinary plastic to hold the monomers (单体) together by hydrogen bonds (氢键). When the new plastic is broken down by heat, instead of burning to waste, the hydrogen bonds mix and allow for the formation of special shaped monomers to create a foundation for more monomers to layer on and rebuild itself. The team found that their self-healing plastic was able to automatically repair at room temperature over an hour to regain its durability.
The team’s work suggests great prospects for the future of plastic. “The technique could lead to the development of a made-to-last plastic that does not need to be recycled,” lead professor Aida said at the conference, “and can one day be in products from smartphones to cars and even buildings.”
1. What is the special feature of the new plastics?A.Hard to break. | B.Cheap to produce. |
C.Good to health. | D.Easy to recycle. |
A.Global warming. | B.Industrial needs. |
C.Economic crisis. | D.Green awareness. |
A.Its social effect. | B.Its main function. |
C.Its working principle. | D.Its economic value. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Favorable. | C.Disapproving. | D.Unconcerned. |
3 . Overlooking the Davis—Gant Varsity Soccer Field, a bed of overturned soil waits for further development. In a few years, this area will become a natural habitat and a playground for animals and residents. This peaceful area didn’t appear naturally, but through planning and action taken by Catlin Gabel’s Tiny Forest project launched by teacher Patrick Walsh.
Forests typically take hundreds of years to mature, with four stages of growth. “Tiny forests flatten out time through the planting of all four layers (层),” Walsh explained. The end result is a fast-growing, native forest in about 20 years. Over 600 plants from 43 species will be planted in the tiny forest, the first one in Oregon.
Walsh was inspired to build a tiny forest after hearing about this idea, which emerged in Japan and has taken hold in North America. He shared his vision with seniors in his class. The seniors researched tiny forests and made a proposal resulting in Clean Water Services donating 60 trees and $5,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Armed with these resources, Walsh and the students started working. “Something I didn’t really expect was the outpouring of students’ enthusiasm. Seeing students from all grades volunteered to contribute to the ‘dirty work’ really blew me away,” Walsh said.
Senior Megan Cover has been at the school since the first grade. “I’ll graduate after working on this project, which is surely sad, but it’s really rewarding and great to be a part of this project and to do my bit. We’re creating this educational space for many young kids,” Cover said.
Walsh summed up his goal of the project, which is to build a place where students can enjoy and learn about nature. “The forest will obviously not solve climate change, but it will deserve the efforts if the kids think about climate change and remember the importance of reforestation and trees when they look outside at the forest.”
1. What is special about tiny forests?A.They originated in North America. | B.They are usually planted in schools. |
C.They contain various types of trees. | D.They become mature in a shorter time. |
A.The abundance of native tree species. | B.Public concern about the environment. |
C.The active participation of students. | D.Support from local organizations. |
A.Proud. | B.Regretful. | C.Grateful. | D.Disappointed. |
A.A model. | B.A reminder. | C.A resource. | D.A witness. |
4 . Mount Qomolangma, meaning “Holy Mother” in Tibetan, is the world’s highest mountain above sea level. No wonder most people consider climbing to its top as one of their biggest achievements. More than 4, 000 climbers, ranging from 13 to 80 years old, have managed to reach the top. Three people from the Sherpa community hold the current record at 21 times each!
You may be surprised at these numbers but that’s just the start of it. Last year, cleanup crews collected as much as 8. 4 tons of garbage from Mount Qomolangma’s North Base Camp in Tibet at 5,150 meters. And in the regions below that level, more than 335 tons of waste was collected. What a sad fact it is that the highest mountain in the world is turning into the highest mountain of trash!
To reverse the trend, the Chinese government recently announced that it had closed the North Base Camp to tourists. From now on, ordinary tourists will only be able to travel as far as Rongbuk Monastery, about 5, 000 meters above sea level. No more than 300 climbers with special permits will be allowed to climb Qomolangma each year. They are supposed to follow stricter rules, including carrying all their waste out with them and only climbing in spring.
Despite these tough measures, it is clear that tourism has caused enormous damage to the natural environment. Mount Qomolangma is not alone. Some popular parks around the world are also struggling to preserve their environments and keep up with increased tourism. Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. has long been troubled by the overflowing trash piles. Joshua Tree National Park suffered a wave of vandalism (破坏), with graffiti sprayed on rocks and ancient trees destroyed. In order to protect the environment, the National Park Service had no choice but to close the park temporarily.
As we can see, the natural environment can be destroyed by human activities in less than five minutes, but it might take hundreds of years to recover. Now it’s time for ordinary tourists to leave “Holy Mother” alone and wait for her to restore her beauty.
1. Why are the figures listed about Qomolangma in paragraph 2?A.To describe it is extremely vast and high. |
B.To show it is difficult to collect trash there. |
C.To indicate it is a popular tourist attraction. |
D.To illustrate it is suffering serious pollution. |
A.Fit with. | B.Follow up. | C.Turn around. | D.Speed up. |
A.Developing its tourism. | B.Reducing human activities. |
C.Forbidding any entry in spring. | D.Building more base camps. |
A.Environment. | B.Society. | C.Tourism. | D.Education. |
5 . A worldwide shift from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric vehicles could significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that humans emit to the atmosphere. But current strategies for vehicle electrification (电气化) can also shift some pollution to communities already suffering under higher economic, health and environmental burdens, researchers warn.
California, which leads the United States by a mile when it comes to EV adoption, offers a window into this evolving problem. The state is aggressively seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and has made substantial increases in wind and solar power generation as well as in the promotion of electric vehicle purchases. One tool the state has used is the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, or CVRP, which kicked off in 2010 and offers consumers money back for the purchase of new EVs.
Now, an analysis of the CVRP’s impact on the state’s air quality from 2010 to 2021 reveals both good and bad news, researchers report May 3 in PLOS Climate.
The good news is that the CVRP is responsible for making a dent in the state’s overall CO2 emissions, reducing them by about 280,000 metric tons per year on average. The bad news is that the most disadvantaged communities in the state didn’t see the same overall improvement in air quality. Those communities in fact saw an increase in one type of air pollution, tiny particulates known as PM2.5. That increase may be indirectly related to putting more EVs on the road. Although electric vehicles themselves don’t produce PM2.5 from their tailpipes, increased electricity generation, if it’s not fossil fuel-free, can. Renewable resources, including rooftop solar cells, supplied about half of California’s electricity in 2022. But natural gas-fired power plants still provide a large part of the state’s power.
“Electric vehicles are often incorrectly referred to as ‘zero-emission vehicles’, but they’re only as clean as the underlying electric grid (电网) from which the energy is sourced,” Mejía-Duwan says. The most disadvantaged 25 percent of the state’s communities also contain 50 percent of the power plants, the team found.
1. What do we know from paragraph 2?A.California takes the lead in environmental protection. |
B.Wind and solar power generation has dominated California. |
C.California’s carbon footprint has been reduced as planned. |
D.The launch of CVRP is intended to promote electric vehicle purchases. |
A.adjustment. | B.shift. | C.reduction. | D.increase |
A.Putting more EVs on the road. | B.Increased electricity generation. |
C.Warming climate. | D.Increased rooftop solar cells. |
A.Zero emission for EVs can’t be ensured nowadays. |
B.‘Zero emission’ isn’t good enough to describe EVs. |
C.EVs, with no zero emission, shouldn’t be advocated. |
D.EVs have a promising future as zero emission vehicles. |
1. 比赛的时间、地点;
2. 比赛的要求;
3. 呼吁同学们积极参加。
注意:
1. 词数100左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
NOTICE
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The English Club
7 . A 2018 report found that food waste would increase by a third to 2. 1billion tons by 2030. Beyond the cost of the waste itself,thrown-away food generates a gas that contributes to climate change.
Home delivery meal kits(盒)can reduce food waste by more than two-thirds,but suppliers need to switch to reusable packaging to make them environmentally friendly.
Tailor-made meal kits cut waste by providing people with precise amounts of fresh ingredients(烹饪原料)for chosen recipes,meaning leftovers are minimized. But while the delivery services score well on reducing food waste,buying the same food ingredients from the supermarket almost always saves energy overall simply because meal kits use so much single-use packaging. The good news is that if people have meals that are tailored for consumption,they won’t overbuy and have less food waste. They fine-tune the amount of food to what they will actually eat.
Meal kits can reduce transport emissions(排放)if people go to the supermarket less frequently. If people only go and buy such goods as soap and toilet paper,they may only have to visit once every couple of months. A delivery truck can carry meals for a lot of people in the neighborhood. So dozens of car trips might be replaced with one truck trip.
However,study found that even if delivery meal kits reduced food waste to zero,they would still use up more energy overall than buying the same food from the supermarket unless the energy used for the meal kit packaging was cut by a fifth. The packaging is a killer if it’s single-use and thrown away,which can make all the environmental benefits lost. But if the packaging can be reused,if it’s glass bottles,like in the old days,we can get some benefits.
1. What can we learn about home delivery meal kits?A.They can cut down on daily expenses. |
B.They will totally solve the problem of food waste. |
C.They can keep energy consumption to a minimum. |
D.They will benefit the environment with reusable packaging. |
A.Attach. | B.Adjust. |
C.Raise. | D.Compare. |
A.reduce transport emissions | B.save more food |
C.shop only in the supermarket | D.shorten car trip distances |
A.Supportive. | B.Unfavorable. |
C.Objective. | D.Indifferent. |
内容包括:
1. 露营造成的问题;
2. 爱护环境的倡议。
注意:
1. 词数80左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Leave-No-Trace Camping
Dear all,____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Li Hua
February 2, 2024
9 . Animals deserve to live a safe and healthy life as much as humans do.
Spread awareness. One way to protect endangered animals is to create awareness about them.
Drive carefully in forest areas. It is important to watch the road when you are going through roads in forest areas. Many animals die while trying to cross the road because people do not pay attention to them.
Avoid plastic items. Do you know what happens to a plastic bag thrown into a river?
A.Change your regular routine. |
B.So, we highly suggest careful use of water. |
C.Spend time rescuing animals in your locality. |
D.Sadly, this does not have universal acceptance. |
E.So we can save their lives by being more careful. |
F.It is probably eaten by an adult turtle, choking it to death. |
G.You can create local community groups that work for this cause. |
10 . This winter, the U. S. state of California received unusually large amounts of rain and snow. Now, people worry that some areas will flood as the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains melts (融化).
Ron Caetano lives about half-way between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. He is preparing to leave in case his community, called the Island District, floods.
More than 100 years ago, the Island District area was under a large lake named Tulare Lake. At one time, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. But reservoirs (水库) and watering systems for agriculture caused it to disappear. However, in very rainy years, farmland can still get covered with water.
Experts say reservoirs near the area will likely receive three times more water than they can hold this year. That means officials must increase the amount of water they release (释放) from the reservoirs. If too much water is released, the area might flood.
The Island District has organized a community network to help prepare for floods. People are placing sandbags close to elderly neighbors’ houses to block possible flooding. And they are looking at reports from water officials, county officials, and from each other.
California has had very dry weather in recent years. Both cities and farm communities acclaimed this year’s winter rains. If the weather gets warmer slowly, the snow will not melt quickly and there may be little or no flooding. But if the weather gets hot quickly, that will bring trouble from too much melting snow.
Officials announced plans to close parts of Yosemite National Park because of threats of flooding. The park is about 270 kilometers east of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Nicholas Pinter is with the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. He said the lake’s size has always changed because of California’s weather. He described the surrounding area this way. “It has been an engineering problem all along,” he said. “This is a bathtub (浴缸) with no way out.”
1. What made Tulare Lake disappear?A.Lack of rainfall. | B.Natural disasters. |
C.Human behaviors. | D.Climate warming. |
A.Feared. | B.Prevented. | C.Stored. | D.Welcomed. |
A.The government can help them escape. | B.The weather will gradually get warm. |
C.There will be more rain there. | D.Officials won’t let off water. |
A.It is difficult to deal with the flood. | B.It is easy to keep the snow water. |
C.The surrounding area is unfit to live. | D.The lake is already overflowing. |