1 . Have you got any electronic devices hanging around your home that you no longer want or use? Between us, we have millions of bits of unused tech kept in drawers.
Probably the best cure for our throwaway culture is to fix our broken tech.
A final choice for your unwanted items is to up-cycle them. You can breathe new life into them by transforming them into valuable pieces or collectable retroitems（复古物品）, which could be sold on.
| A．Recycling is another solution. |
| B．All you need is patience and skills. |
| C．Another cure is to give them away. |
| D．However, they don't need to be thrown away. |
| E．You can have fun in repair clubs and repair cafés. |
| F．You can make some cash and create needed space in your home. |
| G．You might even get some cash back when buying their new products. |
1. Which areas are most at risk in the storm?
| A．Downtown areas. | B．Coastal neighborhoods. | C．Suburban towns. |
| A．Protect window glass. | B．Avoid driving cars. | C．Leave the city. |
| A．An emergency rescuer. | B．A weather reporter. | C．A traffic reporter. |
3 . It takes almost two years to grow a pineapple before it’s ripe and ready for harvest. For rubber trees, it can take at least six years before latex (橡胶) can be collected. So you could imagine the frustration and heartbreak of seeing the fruits of a farmer’s patience and dedication destroyed in a matter of minutes. This has been the cruel reality for those living around Kui Buri National Park, where some of Thailand’s largest populations of Asian elephants hang out.
For years, these farmers have worked hard to make a living from their crops, only to witness it all damaged under the footsteps of the wild giants. But the elephants are not to blame; with their usual feeding spots now changed into farmland, there is little left for them to eat — except the massive fields of tempting, easily accessible juicy fruits, all lined up like a continental breakfast buffet.
While she felt angry about her damaged crops, farmer Nichakan Pongsarikit saw an opportunity that the mighty creatures offered. Embarking on a journey to become a local guide, she began learning more about the animals and their behavior, movement, and habitat, along with foreign language skills, with the support of the Kui Buri Conservation Association and WWF-Thailand.
“I used to never want to encounter the elephants,” she said, now entering her seventh year as a guide. “Now I want to see them every day.”
Like her, other affected farmers have also found innovative ways to embrace the situation. Some are now making handmade souvenirs from elephant-related products, such as natural dye (染料) and ‘poo poo’ paper from elephant dung (粪便), and selling them to tourists who come to visit the elephants in their natural habitat. While it does not come without challenges, this transformation demonstrates the economic benefits that conservation could bring to communities, and the vital role communities play in conservation.
1. What problem do the farmers face?| A．Asian elephants ruin their crops. |
| B．Domesticating elephants is challenging. |
| C．Kui Buri National Park gets damaged. |
| D．Thailand farmers have lost their land. |
| A．They are forced out of the park by the locals. |
| B．They have developed an appetite for crops. |
| C．They are fed by some local farmers. |
| D．They are losing their natural feeding grounds. |
| A．The farmers need to improve profits of their business. |
| B．No new elephant-related products will be launched. |
| C．Tourist-elephant conflicts will arise soon. |
| D．Economy goes hand in hand with ecological protection. |
| A．Many hands make light work. | B．Misfortunes may be an actual blessing. |
| C．The early bird catches the worm. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
4 . Beach cleanup efforts around the world are common and well worth praising. However, we
The story of Ocean Sole
“Ocean Sole was founded with the aim of cleaning our oceans and waterways while
The
| A．never | B．rarely | C．often | D．sometimes |
| A．deserted | B．buried | C．bought | D．collected |
| A．tools | B．toys | C．art | D．energy |
| A．trash | B．fish | C．sand | D．plastic |
| A．explanation | B．try | C．test | D．life |
| A．communities | B．schools | C．banks | D．hospitals |
| A．began | B．spread | C．continued | D．changed |
| A．Wondering | B．Ignoring | C．Imagining | D．Realizing |
| A．required | B．encouraged | C．begged | D．allowed |
| A．add to | B．mix with | C．turn into | D．exchange for |
| A．exhibited | B．donated | C．rented | D．sold |
| A．geographic | B．additional | C．original | D．official |
| A．admiring | B．investigating | C．employing | D．introducing |
| A．benefits | B．educates | C．hires | D．awards |
| A．free | B．wise | C．greedy | D．poor |
| A．willing | B．able | C．dreaming | D．hesitant |
| A．occupy | B．purchase | C．clear | D．distribute |
| A．decisive | B．modest | C．positive | D．temporary |
| A．environment | B．industry | C．fashion | D．technology |
| A．gain | B．owe | C．contribute | D．lend |
Facial recognition technology,
At a digital monitoring center of the Yellow River Delta national nature reserve in Dongying, Shandong province, a variety of data is on display on a large screen, showing the real-time situations of
The monitoring platform takes advantage of information technologies such as big data, remote sensing and artificial intelligence
The use of science and technology plays
6 . Visitors post photos and videos of themselves getting close to flamingos at several resorts (旅游胜地) in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on social media. The pink, leggy birds wander the grounds, walking through artificial ponds and eating food dropped by tourists.
“But behind the fantastic social media posts, things are less rosy for the flamingos,” says Fernandez, a Dominican conservationist and photographer.
Some of these flamings have their secondary feathers cut, which prohibits flight. Others have a bone removed from their wings. This grounds the bird for life, which can be up to 60 years.
Fernandez has also witnessed flamingos being given much pet food, which eventually fades the pink color that comes from eating their native diet of shrimp and other small crustaceans. The birds change behaviorally as well, becoming used to people and asking them for food, as Fernandez has seen.
On the other side of the country, Monte Cristi National Park is the natural habitat for Caribbean flamings; it’s also a popular trapping site. And it is here that Paulino works to remove the traps, which are made of wooden sticks attached to fishing wires.
Paulino’s group first noticed the traps in 2009 and has been reporting them to the authorities ever since, but the practice hasn’t stopped. Once, Paulino says, she spotted a trapper carrying nine flamingos in a bag. On a trip early in 2023, the group took 706 traps from three locations.
This method of trapping harms, or even kills the birds, which Paulino has seen firsthand in the field. Flamingos are walking around and all of a sudden their leg falls in the wires and when they pull, they’re caught. They are trapped by the knee or the ankle, and struggle to break free, which exhausts them.
1. Why do some flamingos have their secondary feathers cut?| A．To help them live longer. | B．To make them more beautiful. |
| C．To make them fly higher. | D．To destroy their flying ability. |
| A．The change of their food. | B．Suffering from serious diseases. |
| C．Living with other small animals. | D．The influence of eating too much food. |
| A．Clever. | B．Cruel. | C．Creative. | D．Careless. |
| A．The Survival Situation of Flamingos Is Unoptimistic |
| B．Flamingos Live a More Comfortable Life in Resorts |
| C．People Have Raised Awareness of Protecting Animals |
| D．The Methods of Protecting Flamingos Are Inappropriate |
7 . 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 |
8 . 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
10 . 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. |
