1 . To save the environment, we must all join in — and nobody knows this better than 70-year-old grandmother Pat Smith who spent 2018 cleaning up litter from 52 beaches in Cornwall on the United Kingdom’s south coast.
Smith set out in January, 2018 to carry out her New Year’s resolution of making her community a better and cleaner place. The ambitious goal came to her after she watched a documentary on plastic pollution the previous year, and she knew she couldn’t just sit by.
Often, volunteers would join her in her efforts, including her grandchildren, or she would join hands with other campaigners such as Wayne Dixon, who is walking around the UK coast as an ambassador for Keep Britain Tidy.
During her beach cleans, Smith was sometimes mistaken for doing community service! She said, “People don’t understand I’ve been doing this voluntarily. We should all take responsibility for picking up the litter as well as ensuring we don’t drop litter in the first place.
Even before her beach cleanups, Smith had begun her first environmental campaign to eliminate plastic straws (吸管) in her city of Cornwall . To date, she has encouraged 600 local companies to stop using unnecessary plastic. In an effort to make her hometown an example for the plastic-free movement in the United Kingdom, she founded The Final Straw Cornwall in the summer of 2017. “I founded the Final Straw to try and raise awareness of the disastrous damage we are doing to our oceans from our casual consumption of single-use plastics. I feel I have a responsibility to my children and grandchildren to do something about it.” She said.
Her resolution year may be over but this environmentally conscious grandma continues her quest (追求). “A lot of the rubbish I’ve picked up consists of everyday items,” said Smith. “These things are used by all of us and it is shocking to find them polluting our beautiful beaches. Please let’s try to be more thoughtful in this coming year. I’m driven to try and protect our living planet for my children and grandchildren and I will continue to do everything in my power to achieve that.”
1. What led to Smith’s New Year’s resolution of cleaning her community?| A．Community service. |
| B．A film or television program. |
| C．Various ocean protection campaigns. |
| D．Serious pollution in her community. |
| A．She was forced to do that. |
| B．She just pretended to be caring. |
| C．She actually did only a little work. |
| D．She wouldn’t stick to the work for long. |
| A．set an example to other aged people |
| B．stop her local companies from producing plastic straws |
| C．keep her promise to her children and grandchildren |
| D．make people conscious of the plastic-related environmental problem |
| A．It’s everyone’s duty. |
| B．It’s as hard as people think. |
| C．Prevention is more important than protection. |
| D．The younger generation don’t care about it enough. |
| A．Proud. | B．Happy. | C．Stressed. | D．Determined. |
After being evacuated (疏散) from her Florida home following Hurricane Michael. Amber Gee was attempting to get an idea of the destruction left behind when she discovered a sign of trouble. As reported by ABC News, Gee was using NOAA’s interactive aerial map (交互式航拍地图) to check the damage done to her and her family’s homes when she spotted the word “H-E-L-P” spelled out in the yard.
The NOAA website allows those impacted in the hurricane to get a look at specific streets or homes by zooming in on (用变焦距镜头拉近) aerial imagery of the affected area. According to ABC News, Gee was looking at one of these photos when she noticed a cry for help spelled out in wood in the front yard of her grandmother’s Bay County home.
Though her grandmother had evacuated, several other family members, including Gee’s uncle and his wife, had stayed behind. After spotting the message, Gee alerted (向……报警) Bay County Emergency Services, who went to the house and rescued those who were trapped in the residence.
“Apparently, they had to cut through a lot of downed trees to get there,” Gee told ABC News. Her uncle, Ernest, had reportedly used wood from one of those trees to spell out the message.
After the rescue, Bay County Emergency Services posted the incident on their Facebook page, writing, “This is an incredible story of how people are working together in this situation. Someone from another county was using the mapping app to check property in rural Bay County and noticed the word ‘help’ spelled out in the grass in wood. That person immediately contacted us and sent the picture and we dispatched emergency workers.”
Meanwhile, Gee says she is thankful that she was able to use the mapping tool to get her family to safety. “The hurricane has turned everything upside down everywhere. Some were more fortunate than others. I’m just happy that everybody is safe and sound and, hopefully, soon we will all get through this together and recover from this storm,” she said.
1. What did Gee use the mapping app to do? (no more than 12 words)2. Who can look at the NOAA website’s aerial photos of the affected area? (no more than 5 words)
3. Who spelled out “Help” to cry for help? (no more than 5 words)
4. What does the underlined word “dispatched” in Para. 5 probably mean? (one word)
5. What lesson can you learn from this story? Please explain. (no more than 25 words)
3 . 假设你是晨光中学的学生李津。在世界地球日即将到来之际，你校与英国友好校将在线举办“绿动校园，青春飞扬”的主题摄影展，以此来记录校园环保活动中的精彩瞬间。现组委会向同学们征集照片，你打算参加此项活动。请按照以下提示用英语给组委会写一封信来推荐你的照片：
（1）描述照片的内容；
（2）说明选择该照片的理由；
（3）表达对该照片入选的愿望。
参考词汇：绿动校园，青春飞扬Green Campus, Flying Youth
注意：
（1）词数不少于100；
（2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯；
（3）开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Sir/Madam,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Jin
4 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource.org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, mealworms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that mealworms can digest plastic. One mealworm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠). The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?| A．It can be used to cool drinks. |
| B．It is a weightless material. |
| C．It is harmful when recycled. |
| D．It is usually used on ships. |
| A．Mealworms have amazing digesting power. |
| B．Mealworms are not bad in their nature. |
| C．Mealworms can rescue people’s lives. |
| D．People misunderstood mealworms in the past. |
| A．To find ways to help mealworms grow larger. |
| B．To imitate their ways of breaking down plastic. |
| C．To help develop their digesting ability. |
| D．To make sure of their safety after eating plastic. |
| A．by raising amounts of mealworms |
| B．by environmental engineering instructors |
| C．using a method inspired by eating mealworms |
| D．without sending out dangerous pollution |
| A．Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. |
| B．Mealworms are genius at eating plastic. |
| C．Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. |
| D．Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide. |
5 . As people travelling by air become increasingly aware of their carbon footprint, flying has become not only one of the most polluting industries, but also one with the most potential to turn things around.
After Solar Impulse 2 completed the world’s first flight by a solar-powered aircraft in 2016, airlines and aircraft producers looked to become the first to provide a commercial plane. Bertrand Piccard, one of the pilots responsible for Solar Impulse 2’s journey said, “All the clean technologies we’ve already had can be used everywhere. We have to use them, not only for the environment, but also because they are profitable and able to create jobs.”
The following year saw many projects in the aviation (航空) field as the airline industry acknowledged the future of low- carbon transportation methods. In 2017, Zunum Aero, a small aviation company which focused on delivering a range of hybrid-electric (混合电动的) planes received financial aid from JetBlue and Boeing, whilst EasyJet teamed up with Wright Electric to develop battery-powered aircraft and NASA also announced its plans to develop its own electric aircraft.
Orkney Islands, lying about 20 miles north of the Scottish mainland, are rich in renewable resources, especially the wind energy. Loganair, a Scottish airline, is cooperating with aviation companies to make Orkney the world’s first fully electric airline routes. However, this is never easy. Due to the limited size and weight of a battery that an airplane can carry, airplane producers are faced with a bottleneck — the continued power supply for electric airplanes. They believe the abundant wind energy in Orkney could be the key to solving it.
The benefits of electric air travel transcend its low-carbon emissions. Aviation experts believe these aircraft’s power source will also mean they will be less noisy, smaller, require less maintenance costs, and need a shorter runway to take off and land — this could lead to more airports in small cities and more rural areas being connected to the world at large.
1. What did Bertrand want to convey in his words?| A．The future of aircraft pilots. |
| B．The success of Solar Impulse 2. |
| C．The convenience of commercial planes. |
| D．The significance of using renewable energy. |
| A．By asking for financial support from banks. |
| B．By working together with another company. |
| C．By purchasing patents from other countries. |
| D．By improving the technology on its own. |
| A．Use natural resources to charge airplanes. |
| B．Build more coal-fired power stations. |
| C．Develop shorter airline routes. |
| D．Increase the size of battery. |
| A．Go beyond. | B．Rely on. | C．Differ from. | D．Refer to. |
| A．Making plane tickets cheaper. |
| B．Making the flying time shorter. |
| C．Making the world more connected. |
| D．Making the plane maintenance easier. |
6 . The giant panda is more than just a cute conservation animal and a beloved media darling. It is also, according to new research, the protector of dozens of other unique Chinese species. The panda itself doesn’t actually defend other wildlife, but it helps to save it all the same by serving as what’s known as an “umbrella species”. In other words, efforts to preserve habitats for the giant panda also protect many other mammals, birds and amphibians (两栖动物) that live only alongside pandas, in the same areas and regions.
Conservationists have expressed this umbrella species theory for years but a paper published recently in Biological Conservation proves it. The research found that most of the forest animals in China live within the panda’s geographic range and the nature reserves set aside to protect them. In brief, most of this range overlaps (与……重叠) with important conservation areas for other local forest species.
Pandas do protect a lot although a few species fall outside the umbrella. The research found about one hundred kinds of animals are not protected by the giant panda’s current reservation. The paper identified 10 locations that might be suitable for new or improved nature reserves to help expand that coverage. Many of these areas, located in Sichuan Province, which is considered the stronghold (大本营) of giant pandas in the wild, are close to existing reserves.
Protecting the newly identified locations, however, won’t save all of China’s unique wildlife. “Pandas are a good umbrella species for forest ecosystems in China but that’s not enough,” says co-author Binbin Li. “In China we have many ecosystems. We need more umbrella species.” For example, she says tigers could serve the same role in the northern part of the country and snow leopards could be an umbrella for grassland species.
“The new findings are important,” Pimm (the other author) and Li say, “because many people doubt whether China’s commitment to preserving giant panda habitats is doing much good.” Other people around the world don’t even realize that wild pandas still live in their native forests. “A lot of the resources in China go to releasing captive (被关住的) pandas back into the wild,” Li says. “The news doesn’t cover that.” She says this paper helps display wild pandas and also shows that the expense in preserving them is money well spent.
The researchers hope their paper helps to set the tone for future discussions not only about umbrella species but also giant pandas themselves, along with all China’s wildlife.
1. Giant pandas are called an umbrella species because ________.| A．they never fight for protected species |
| B．they help take care of other baby animals |
| C．their precious value requires better protection |
| D．the protection for them also extends to other species |
| A．The number of nature reserves may be reduced. |
| B．The coverage of nature reserves may be expanded. |
| C．The giant panda lives in important local conservation areas. |
| D．Many nature reserves in China are located in Sichuan Province. |
| A．Create more kinds of strong species. | B．Find more kinds of umbrella species. |
| C．Focus solely on pandas’ conservation. | D．Search for much bigger nature reservations. |
| A．showing how well pandas are living | B．blaming the media for their ignorance |
| C．proving China’s efforts to protect pandas | D．appealing to organizations to donate money |
| A．The umbrella species have a great influence on the ecosystem. |
| B．Researchers have done a lot to protect China’s local species. |
| C．Giant panda conservation also protects other unique species. |
| D．Conservationists expressed a new umbrella species theory. |
7 . Growing up in Mauritius, I love nature. Behind my house, there is a mountain named Le Pouce, where I spent much time
When I was about 10, this started to
Gradually, I realized how much humans
Diving plays a big part in my life now, and I work to
Protecting the ocean is very
| A．exploring | B．transforming | C．extending | D．constructing |
| A．expanded | B．appeared | C．assisted | D．stopped |
| A．ruined | B．surrounded | C．covered | D．represented |
| A．change | B．worsen | C．repeat | D．occur |
| A．progress | B．threat | C．opportunity | D．image |
| A．proving | B．hiding | C．developing | D．resisting |
| A．avoiding | B．teaching | C．pretending | D．considering |
| A．if | B．yet | C．so | D．unless |
| A．lead | B．follow | C．recognize | D．prevent |
| A．hesitation | B．awareness | C．memory | D．guess |
| A．paid back | B．adapted to | C．depended on | D．kept up |
| A．simple | B．significant | C．dangerous | D．effective |
| A．mood | B．skill | C．hobby | D．experience |
| A．confirm | B．neglect | C．overcome | D．analyze |
| A．turn down | B．hold back | C．add up | D．contribute to |
| A．introduction | B．influence | C．advertisement | D．prediction |
| A．mixing | B．burning | C．replacing | D．combining |
| A．risky | B．impractical | C．shocking | D．crucial |
| A．sincerely | B．suddenly | C．formally | D．seemingly |
| A．wonderful | B．imaginative | C．familiar | D．traditional |
8 . Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles(微粒) in almost 80% of the people tested. The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may live in organs.
The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year.
Huge amounts of plastic waste are left in the environment and microplastics now pollute the entire planet, from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People were already known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in, and they have been found in the faeces (排泄物) of babies and adults.
The scientists analysed blood samples from 22 healthy adults and found plastic particles in 17. Half the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in drinks bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, used for packaging food and other products. A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene, from which plastic carrier bags are made.
“Our study is the first indication that we have polymer particles(聚合物颗粒) in our blood — it’s a breakthrough result,” said Prof Dick Vethaak, an expert at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. “But we have to extend the research and increase the sample sizes, the number of polymers assessed, etc.” Further studies by a number of groups are already under way, he said.
“It is certainly reasonable to be concerned,” Vethaak said. “The particles are there and are transported throughout the body.” He said previous work had shown that microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces of babies compared with adults and that babies fed with
plastic bottles are taking millions of microplastic particles a day.
Vethaak acknowledged that the amount and type of plastic varied considerably between the blood samples. “But this is a pioneering study,” he said, with more work now needed. He said the differences might reflect short-term exposure before the blood samples were taken, such as drinking from a plastic-lined coffee cup, or wearing a plastic face mask.
“The big question is what is happening in our body?” Vethaak said. “Are the particles retained in the body? Are they transported to certain organs, such as getting past the blood-brain barrier? And are these levels sufficiently high to cause disease? We urgently need to fund further research so we can find out.”
1. What could be inferred from Paragraph 2?| A．Air Pollution particles can cause death eventually. |
| B．Microplastics can be deadly to humans. |
| C．There is no evidence that microplastics harm human cells. |
| D．Microplastics can travel throughout body and damage organs. |
| A．They are found in most people. |
| B．Polyethylene found in blood samples might be taken from drinks bottles. |
| C．A quarter of the blood samples contained PET particles. |
| D．Half of the microplastics in the blood samples were likely introduced by drinking from plastic containers. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. | C．Excited. | D．Depressed. |
| A．we are the pioneers in the field of plastic research |
| B．we need more blood examples and more work to do |
| C．we are entering a whole new field of research |
| D．this is an extremely important study |
| A．Political. | B．Fashion. | C．Food. | D．Environment. |
9 . Just like his parents and grandparents before him, Alaska teenager Carl Smith lives off the land, whether it’s catching salmon (鮭鱼) for dinner or collecting wood to keep warm in winter.
But the climate emergency is threatening the way Carl and his Yupik Eskimo family members have lived for generations, prompting (促使) the teenager to step into a role he never imagined he’d have: that of climate activist.
“I wanted to get the word out,” Carl, 18, tells People for the Earth Day special. “Nobody really knows what’s happening out here in rural Alaska.”
For Carl, home is Akiak, a small village of about 400 people who rely on the Kuskokwim River for salmon in the summer, and geese and moose (驼鹿) hunting in the spring and fall to keep their stomachs fed.
But as global temperatures rise, Alaska’s winters are getting shorter, and the permafrost (永冻土层) near Akiak is melting, causing large waves in the river that have been eroding (侵蚀) the shoreline as they crash; Carl estimates they’ve so far lost about 100 feet of land.
Carl’s concerns received national attention in 2019, when he and 15 other teenagers filed a landmark complaint with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, charging five countries with violating their rights as children by not doing enough to end the climate crisis and the threat it poses to their futures.
The complaint was spearheaded by attorney Michael Hausfeld, who says Carl stood out because climate change is directly affecting his life. “He’s experiencing it firsthand. He is watching his life slowly diminish (缩小) and disappear, M Hausfeld tells People. “Carl could become an icon for the concept of intergenerational equity (公正), which is an obligation of states to secure a living planet for the next generations.”
Carl traveled to New York for the Human Rights Day Summit, where he met fellow activists like Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Villasenor, who are also part of the complaint.
“When I heard the stories from people around the world, I felt like I was with them,” he says. “We’re experiencing different things, but in a way, it’s all the same. I just felt connected to them in some way.”
“I’m going to keep telling everyone that climate’s coming, climate’s changing, and it’s happening everywhere in the world,” he says. “If we don’t do anything about it, we won’t have a home to live in. I just hope everyone listens.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “get the word out” in paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Let people know about something. |
| B．Conduct research on something. |
| C．Stop something from happening. |
| D．Go out for an adventure. |
| A．Five countries ignored the climate crisis. |
| B．The Eskimos lived on what nature gave them. |
| C．The Eskimos’ overuse of natural resources caused damages. |
| D．Some countries were charged with violating international obligations. |
| A．The population is decreasing. |
| B．Some species are going extinct. |
| C．More and more land is being lost. |
| D．Forests are being destroyed. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Critical. | C．Supportive. | D．Worried. |
| A．To call attention to the climate crisis. |
| B．To protect children from violence. |
| C．To voice support for Eskimo children. |
| D．To raise money for his hometown. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Generous. | C．Modest. | D．Responsible. |
10 . Human’s appetite for sand could increase 45 percent within four decades, according to researchers who say unchecked consumption risks environmental damage and shortages of a key material for urban expansion. Growing demand for building sand — which is used to make concrete, glass and other vital construction materials – has already seen the rise of sand pirates (盗贼) , with dozens of islands disappearing in Indonesia as a result of casual mining.
Xiaoyang Zhong at Leiden University and his colleagues have calculated that global building sand demand will jump from 3.2 billion tonnes a year in 2020 to 4.6 billion tonnes by 2060. The figure is based on a central situation of future population rises and economic growth, and modelled using estimates of concrete and glass consumption, and the floor area needed in buildings.But there is no reliable estimate for remaining sand reserves, so it is unclear if the world can bear such a big increase. “Sand, and the sand crisis (危机), has been overlooked, creating severe environmental and social consequences. If we don’t act now, we may not have enough sand to develop our cities,” says Zhong.
However, Zhong’s team found that about half the projected consumption in 2060 could be avoided if countries take a suit of measures, including extending the lifetime of buildings, reusing concrete, creating more lightweight building designs and using other materials, such as wooden frames. According to the model, the single biggest reduction in sand use could come from more efficient (有效的) use of space: distributing less floor space per person in buildings, sharing offices, and so on. “It’s hard to say how realistic these measures are. But we want this to happen,” says Zhong.
The research only looked at sand used for glass and concrete in buildings, so is an underestimate of total future demand. Granular data on sand consumption for the 26 world regions studied is also lacking, and not detailed enough for country-level breakdowns.
Failure to act will add existing environmental pressures on reserves of sand in lakes and rivers first, but absolute shortages shouldn't be overlooked, says Zhong. “It would be very questionable if this growing demand could be met,” he says.
1. What may cause the environmental and social effects according to Zhong?| A．Sand reserves are not enough. |
| B．The sand crisis is overestimated. |
| C．Sand crisis isn’t paid much attention to. |
| D．The construction industry is lack of sand. |
| A．By reusing he building materials. |
| B．By lengthening the building’s lifetime. |
| C．By making use of space more wisely. |
| D．By preventing sand use completely. |
| A．It only studied the sand use in 26 areas. |
| B．It didn’t show the detailed data on sand use. |
| C．It didn’t take realistic measures on sand use. |
| D．It overlooked the total sand need in the future. |
| A．How we will take action to stop it. |
| B．Why its shortages are overlooked in most countries. |
| C．Whether the increasing sand need may be satisfied. |
| D．What damage the environmental pressures do to rivers. |
