1 . In order to meet growing food production and energy needs in low-and middle-income countries, solar-powered groundwater irrigation (灌溉) is rapidly gaining ground. More than 500,000 solar pumps (泵) have been set up in south Asia over the last few years and a major expansion is planned across sub-Saharan Africa.
Dustin Garrick, professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, along with an international team, examined the trend toward solar pumps as a clear opportunity for boosting agricultural yields and reducing poverty, but the opportunity comes with risks.
While replacing electric or gas pumps with solar-powered irrigation holds the promise of reducing carbon emissions (排放), it is not guaranteed. Farmers who have access to these pumps may expand production of crops or diversify into other activities, which are not emissions neutral. Solar pumps will increase groundwater pumping efficiency, which may be desirable in regions that support such increases, but this could worsen groundwater lessening in regions that are already stressed. The cheap clean energy of solar pumps may lead to increased groundwater development, without necessarily decreasing overall emissions.
Despite these challenges, the clean-energy boost can serve as a stimulus for positive change in water and energy management but will require enhanced regulation and planning in both low-and high-income settings. Garrick and his team advocate for improved data collection initiatives, with a shift from separated to integrated approaches. They suggest using technology to measure water pumping and collecting remotely sensed data to monitor land use changes. As well, regulatory improvements are crucial, with mounting limits for carbon emissions and groundwater lessening established at various levels.
With groundwater management already a difficult challenge, we must act fast to understand the implications of the clean energy boost and poverty reduction acts to avoid these gains being won away by wells running dry. The rapid adoption of solar irrigation intensifies the urgency, demanding adaptation from governments and institutions to sail through these complexities.
1. According to paragraph 3, there is a conflict between ________.| A．poor farmers and solar-powered irrigation | B．human consumption and clean energy limits |
| C．crop diversity and crop production expansion | D．pumping efficiency and groundwater exhaustion |
| A．Integrating data collection and regulation. | B．Improving carbon emission monitoring. |
| C．Separating data for land use changes. | D．Establishing groundwater levels. |
| A．Perform as the authorities suggest. | B．Act based on further understanding. |
| C．Quicken the adoption of solar irrigation. | D．Challenge the groundwater management. |
| A．The Complexities of Adopting Solar Pumps |
| B．Solar-Powered Irrigation: Farmers’ New Future |
| C．The Promise and Risks of Solar-Powered Irrigation |
| D．Balancing Clean Energy Boost and Poverty Reduction |
2 . A new study says that more than half the world’s ocean area is “becoming greener”, and the trend is connected to human-caused global warming.
It’s not clear what is driving the greening. In some places, it could indicate changes in the amount of plankton or other organic material floating in the water. Plankton are a cornerstone of the ocean food chain, and these kinds of shifts could have ripple effects throughout the entire marine ecosystem.
The study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, examines 20 years of satellite data measuring light reflected at the surface of the water all across the globe, subtle changes that aren’t necessarily visible to the naked eye. The research finds that 56 percent of the world’s oceans are shifting in color — and on the whole, they’re growing greener. The trend is especially strong in the lower latitudes, including the subtropics and tropics.
The researchers then used a computer model to find out whether climate change was playing a part. They conducted one set of simulations representing the oceans under a strong climate change scenario, and then compared them with a second set of simulations imagining a world in which climate change didn’t exist. The model suggests that rising global temperatures are to blame.
The exact reasons still require some scientific digging. While climate change seems to be the culprit, the study also indicates that rising ocean temperatures in and of themselves aren’t driving the greening.
There are plenty of other ways global warming is affecting the world’s oceans, by changing the structure and flow of certain currents, for instance. These kinds of changes can affect the growth of phytoplankton and other factors that might be contributing to the greening.
The findings weren’t a surprise to the researchers. They’re consistent with the way researchers expect the global oceans to change as the world keeps on warming.
“I’ve been running simulations that have been telling me for years that these changes in ocean color are going to happen,” study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in a statement. “To actually see it happening for real is no unexpected, but frightening.”
1. What is the main topic of the study mentioned in the text?| A．Changes in the color of the world’s oceans. |
| B．The role of plankton in the ocean food chain. |
| C．The impact of climate change on ocean ecosystems. |
| D．The effects of global warming on ocean temperatures. |
| A．A person who is responsible for a crime. |
| B．An animal that causes damage or harm. |
| C．A substance that causes negative effects. |
| D．A thing or fact that is responsible for a problem. |
| A．They are unsurprised. | B．They are emotional. |
| C．They are indifferent. | D．They are unsure. |
| A．They will become smaller. | B．They will become more polluted. |
| C．They will continue to change colors. | D．They will become less diverse. |
Duolun county,
Ma Yunping, a retired soldier,
During the first three years, planting grass became his primary job. Slowly, the yellow sand was stabilized, and
So far, in this area, Ma has planted about 400,000 trees in total. All of them have grown into flourishing vegetation, and not a bit of yellow sand can
4 . As awareness of climate change grows, so does the desire to do something about it. But the scale of the problems it causes—from wildfires to melting glaciers to droughts—can seem utterly overwhelming. It can be hard to make a connection between our everyday lives and the survival of polar bears, let alone how we as individuals can help turn the situation around.
One way to gain a quantifiable understanding of the impacts of our actions, for good and bad, is through what is known as a carbon footprint. But while the concept is gaining traction, it is not always fully understood. According to Mike Berners-Lee, a professor at Lancaster University in the UK and author of The Carbon Footprint of Everything, it is “the sum total of all the greenhouse gas emissions that had to take place in order for a product to be produced or for an activity to take place.”
What steps a person can take to reduce their personal footprint the most of course depends on the kind of lifestyle they presently live, and the same actions are not equally effective for everyone. Berners-Lee notes that, “for some people, flying may be 10 percent of their footprint, for some people it’s zero, and for some it’s such a huge number that it should be the only thing they should be thinking about.”
It isn’t easy to calculate a carbon footprint and it has been claimed that the earliest such calculator appeared in 2004 as part of the “Beyond Petroleum” campaign of oil giant BP—a fact that causes some observers to criticize the pressure to reduce personal carbon footprints as a “sham” to “promote the slant that climate change is not the fault of an oil giant, but that of individuals.”
“I would say personal carbon footprint calculators are a useful tool to assess the impact of your immediate actions.” Berners-Lee says. “But what’s much more important than your personal carbon footprint is your climate shadow, which aims to paint a picture of the full sum of one’s choices and the impact they have on the planet. For example, how you vote, where you work, how you invest your money, and how much you talk about climate change.
1. What does the underlined word “traction” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．attention | B．insight | C．control | D．power |
| A．By presenting a fact | B．By making a comparison |
| C．By clarifying a concept | D．By giving suggestions |
| A．unclear | B．favorable | C．indifferent | D．disapproving |
| A．Tools are more important than choices. | B．Only individuals are responsible for climate change. |
| C．Climate shadow covers a broad range of actions. | D．Calculating carbon footprint is the most effective. |
5 . One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we throw away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050 and that’s partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them.
However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that “this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have gone wrong.”
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting (提取) these materials from electronic gadgets (部件). It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense — collections of e-waste for recycling are “not growing or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, a professor of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no relevant laws, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
1. What does the underlined part “this stuff” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Our planet | B．E-waste | C．Recycling system | D．Rubbish |
| A．By offering high prices to recycle e-waste. | B．By training volunteers to promote e-waste. |
| C．By creating long-lasting items to avoid e-waste. | D．By fixing electrical items to reduce e-waste. |
| A．To emphasize the value of e-waste mining. | B．To suggest a way for people to earn a living. |
| C．To explain the process of e-waste mining. | D．To provide a way of dealing with rubbish. |
| A．Why our planet is getting worse. | B．What can be done to manage e-waste. |
| C．Why technology is not a good thing. | D．How we can protect the environment. |
6 . Toy giant Lego has given up on plans to make its bricks from recycled bottles, in a blow to its efforts to cut carbon emissions (排放). The company said in 2021 that it aimed to reduce oil-based bricks within two years. But Monday’s statement said it had found that using the new material didn’t reduce carbon emissions. Lego said it remains fully devoted to developing sustainable materials for bricks.
The toy maker makes about 4, 400 different bricks. Currently, many of them are made using a plastic, ABS, mainly made from oil. The move, which was first reported in Financial Times, will be seen as a setback (挫折) after an open claim by Lego to improve its sustainability. Like many other companies, Lego has been exploring alternative materials to plastic that will be lasting enough for generations. In 2021, it said it had developed bricks made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, with some other chemicals added, to offer an alternative to oil-based bricks.
But Lego has now discovered that after more than two years of testing, it had found that using recycled PET didn’t reduce carbon emissions. It said extra steps were required in the production process, which meant it needed to use more energy. It has decided not to progress with making bricks from the material, and now testing and developing bricks made from a range of alternative sustainable materials.
Niels B. Christiansen, CEO of Lego, told the FT that it was hard to find “magic material” to fix the firm’s sustainability challenges. “We tested hundreds and hundreds of materials. It’s almost not been possible to find a material like that,” he said.
A spokesperson for the company told the BBC, “We are investing more than $1. 2bn in sustainability move in the four years to 2025 as part of our efforts to turn to more sustainable materials and reduce our carbon emissions by 37% by 2032.”
1. What material has been Lego trying to replace?| A．ABS. | B．PET. | C．Oil. | D．Carbon. |
| A．It failed to achieve its desired goal. |
| B．Carbon emission was under control. |
| C．Pressure from competitors was huge. |
| D．Added chemicals harm the environment. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Sports. | C．Economy. | D．Education |
| A．A New Announcement from Lego | B．More Recycling, More Pollution |
| C．Lego: Dropping Its Low-impact Act | D．Lego: Firm Green Goal Despite failure |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Plastic bags can be found everywhere, that results in a great waste of resources and heavy environmentally pollution.
Luckily, the government has put a nationwide ban the use of free plastic bags, demanding all stores and supermarkets not provided customers with free plastic bags. The rule will undoubtedly reduce the use of plastic bags and enhance the aware of environmental protection.
As students, we should do your part to cut back on the use of plastic bags. For example, we had better to have meals in our canteen instead of bring food back with plastic bags. It is also high advocated that we should turn to cloth bags or shopping baskets from then on.
8 . Farming is destroying the planet, but there could be a much more environmentally friendly way to feed ourselves: using renewable energy to turn carbon dioxide into food. “This is becoming a reality,” says Pasi Vainikka at Solar Foods, a company that is building the first commercial-scale factory that will be able to make food directly from CO2.
There can be no doubt that immediate attention to find greener ways to grow food is required. Conventional agriculture, including organic farming, causes damage to the environment in many ways. It requires a lot of land, leading to habitat loss and deforestation. It is also the source of a third of all greenhouse gas emissions and releases other pollutants. It isn’t very efficient, either. Crops typically transform less than 1 percent of light energy into usable biomass (生物量).
Instead, Solar Foods plans to avoid photosynthesis (光合作用) altogether, and grow bacteria that use hydrogen as their source of energy. At the factory, renewable electricity will be used to split water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen will be added to large containers, where the bacteria grow, along with CO2 and ammonia (氨气). The end result will be a yellow powder called Solein.
Solein is made of bacterial cells and is up to 70 percent protein. It can be used as an ingredient in all kinds of foods. “We are aiming at replacing animal-sourced proteins, which we think have the highest environmental impact,” says Vainikka.
Compared with plant crops, Solein will use 100 times less water per kilogram of protein produced, 20 times less land and emit a fifth as much CO2, according to Solar Foods. There are other benefits, too: factories could be situated anywhere in the world and production won’t be affected by weather conditions.
“With Solar Foods and other companies scaling up their systems, this is truly beginning a new era of agriculture,” says Dorian Leger at Connectomix Bio in Germany. “I think these trends are exciting and will help bend the carbon curve as well as lead to improved global food supply security.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning conventional agriculture in paragraph 2?| A．To demonstrate its influence on crops. |
| B．To compare different farming methods. |
| C．To highlight the urgent need for alternatives. |
| D．To provide an example of agricultural types. |
| A．Its production process. | B．Its storage condition. |
| C．Its ingredient materials. | D．Its investment potential. |
| A．It is low in protein. | B．Its production is weather sensitive. |
| C．It is resource-limited. | D．Its production is location-independent. |
| A．The use of Solein may help reduce carbon emissions. |
| B．Solein will dominate the agricultural development. |
| C．Solein can help achieve global food safety. |
| D．The prospect of Solein remains to be seen. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词；
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每句不超过两个错误； 2.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Our school had carrie
I really appreciate this experience as it raised my aware of white pollution. I'd avoid use plastics and urge others to do the same. Like a famous saying goes, many hands make light work. So let's start from us and act from now on.
10 . Summer music festivals are in full swing, which means that thousands of enthusiastic fans are camping nearby, ready to party. Big problems appear, however, when it comes time for them to leave. They just throw their things away and leave them for someone else to clean up—usually waste contractors (承包方) hired by the music festival. They collect all things and throw them unsorted into a landfill.
Music festivals are environmental disasters when it comes to the amount of trash produced, and this results mostly from festival-goers’ strange disposable (用完即弃的) mentality. An estimated 80 percent of trash produced by music festivals comes from what’s left behind by campers, such as sleeping bags, camp chairs, clothes, rubber boots and leftover food.
After the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK saw 10,000 abandoned (被丢弃的) tents in 2011, some environmentally-minded people decided to take action. An international movement called “Love Your Tent” was started. The movement took over a single campground at the festival and ensured that every person who wanted to camp there signed a conduct agreement that included promising to take their camping equipment home. Its first year in 2012 was a success.
Unfortunately, it continues to be a battle. When “Love Your Tent” did a survey of students at Buckinghamshire New University last year, the result showed that 60 percent of participants admitted to leaving tents behind in the past, even though 86 percent recognized that waste has an impact on the environment.
One major impediment to waste reduction is that camping equipment is cheap and of poor quality so that nobody sees the sense in packing up a dirty tent and taking it home to clean and reuse.
While there’s no easy solution to this trash disaster, it’s clear that music festival organizers need to take responsibility for what their event creates, and demand that campers clean up their act. Organizers could also provide tent-recycling facilities for those people who keep leaving tents behind. Camping, which is supposed to be a celebration of music, should never become a trash fest (集会).
1. What happens after summer music festivals according to the text?| A．Campers produce a huge amount of trash. |
| B．Waste contractors deal with trash properly. |
| C．Festival organizers improve their organizational skills. |
| D．Festival-goers join environmental protection events. |
| A．It still faces challenges. |
| B．It is run only for music festivals in the UK. |
| C．It focuses on collecting abandoned tents. |
| D．It was set up by some festival organizers. |
| A．Access. | B．Clue. | C．Obstacle. | D．Concession. |
| A．Offer tent-recycling facilities. |
| B．Help waste contractors collect trash. |
| C．Sign a conduct agreement with the campers. |
| D．Limit the number of people attending the festival. |
