1 . Hurricane season can be wild and unpredictable.
Sandbags are very useful. While sandbags won’t be able to help in the extreme storm, many people will be able to prevent flooding and extensive damage to their belongings by placing sandbags.
It’s important to prepare the inside of your home for strong winds and rain. But you should also keep an eye on the outside of your house, too. Trim (修剪) trees, especially dead branches, to prevent anything else that could fly through a window and cause damage during a hurricane.
You should also take pictures of expensive items like electronics and keep notes of their serial numbers.
| A．You should have a camera at home. |
| B．It can be strong enough to resist the forceful winds. |
| C．Making sure nothing is loose in your yard is important. |
| D．You may see people taping windows before a hurricane comes. |
| E．They will be able to effectively keep storm water out in many cases. |
| F．It will aid with your insurance company if anything needs to be replaced. |
| G．These dangerous storms can bring damage to your home and belongings. |
2 . When Malaika Vaz was a kid, living in Goa, India, she was constantly surrounded by nature. Among her childhood experiences, she recalls journeys to the Arctic and Antarctic, climbing mountains, diving, and windsurfing.
At some point in her late teens, Vaz realized adventure didn’t really mean anything if there wasn’t an intention to protect the natural spaces we were exploring in. Motivated by her passion for filmmaking, she began to seek a way that would both satisfy her appetite for adventure and allow her to advocate the protection of the species and ecosystems she interacted with.
Today Vaz wears many hats in the filmmaking world, as a documentary director, producer, and presenter. After falling in love with manta rays (蝠鲼), she discovered they were being hunted illegally and started to dress herself as a seafood trader to get as close as possible to the issue. She traced sellers to figure out why the threatened species were being killed. She shared the shocking details in Peng Yu Sai, her Green Oscar-nominated film on the matter.
The subjects that grab her attention, Vaz admits, run the gamut. When she was asked to define her focus, she replied that she preferred variety. She always argues that the issues she looks into are more interrelated than they may initially appear. “I think that it’s exciting to dive into the different aspects of environmental stories,” she says.
Her work doesn’t stop at recording important stories; she also ensures the message is heard. From Vaz’s viewpoint, real improvement in planetary protection lies in the hands of each of us rather than just those of several environmentalists. “If you’re an engineer and you care about the natural world, you can change the kind of construction materials you use. If you’re a teacher loving nature, you can bring that into the learning for your class.” she says.
As a filmmaker, Vaz believes it’s important to figure out ways that attract the audience who can push for the protection of the natural world.
1. What did Malaika Vaz decide to do in her late teens?| A．Motivate children to get close to nature. |
| B．Make a film about her childhood experiences. |
| C．Develop a passion for an adventurous lifestyle. |
| D．Combine nature exploration with nature conservation. |
| A．The role of manta rays in the local economy. | B．Vaz’s personal life as a seafood trader. |
| C．The threatened species in India. | D．The illegal trade in manta rays. |
| A．Are quite popular. | B．Cover a wide range. |
| C．Make little progress. | D．Are hard to deal with. |
| A．Human beings are closely linked to nature. |
| B．Stories are effective in changing people’s behavior. |
| C．Everyone can make a difference to the environment. |
| D．Environmentalists play a big part in solving environmental issues. |
3 . Before the year has even come to a close, climate experts are certain that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history.
On Dec. 6, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) — part of the European Union's space program — revealed that this year's average global temperatures have been 2.6℉ (1.46°C ) higher than temperatures in preindustrial times and 0.2°F (0.13°C) higher than January to November in 2016. These “extraordinary” temperatures mean that 2023will be “the warmest year in recorded history,” C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement.
The researchers note that this year's record heat was partly caused by the latest El Nino event — a phenomenon where warmer water near the equator triggers warmer global air temperatures — that began in June. Some other experts have suggested that the January2022 eruption of Tonga's underwater volcano, which pumped record levels of water vapor into the atmosphere, may also be partly responsible.
Despite these factors, the major cause of climbing temperatures is global warming caused by runaway greenhouse gas emissions, which, noted in a C3S statement, have trapped more than 25 billion atomic bombs' worth of energy in our atmosphere over the last 50 years. And still worse, the global carbon emissions have reached a new high this year, according to scientists at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) On Dec 4.
The effects of global warming are becoming more obvious. In 2023, research revealed that climate change is causing major US cities to sink and more than half of the world's largest lakes and reservoirs to shrink. Studies also predicted that the Gulf Stream, which plays a vital role in ocean circulation, could collapse by as early as 2025, and that rising sea levels could swamp the U S coastline by 2050.
However, scientists say that we still have time to prevent further disaster. Leading climate change expert Michael Mann, from the University of Pennsylvania, recently wrote that “we can still stop the worst effects of climate change” if we stop emitting greenhouse gases as soon as possible.
1. What's the purpose of the text?| A．To report the recorded hottest year. |
| B．To present findings of a research. |
| C．To analyze the causes of climate change. |
| D．To warn of the coming natural disaster. |
| A．Eruption of an underwater volcano. |
| B．Greenhouse gas emissions. |
| C．Collapse of the Gulf Stream. |
| D．The latest El Nino event. |
| A．Scientists' predictions of the future. |
| B．The threat of rising sea levels to the U.S. |
| C．The effects of climate change. |
| D．Different opinions on global warming. |
| A．Confused. | B．Worried. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Hopeful. |
4 . The students stand on a pier (码头) over the Harlem River in New York City. They stare down into the brown water. Their teacher, Mr. Rodman, pulls a long rope out of the river. Fastened to the end of the rope is a metal cage and inside are oysters (牡蛎). Taking turns, the students measure all the oysters, and then compare notes. The biggest oyster is over 2 inches long, much bigger than a healthy size for its age! They also measure the level of oxygen. As more oysters grow, the water should become clearer and hold more oxygen. Also, other animals should move in.
Oysters are soft-bodied animals, and share the underwater community with plants, fish, and other life. They are food for crabs and other animals. As new oysters grow, they attach their shells to older ones，forming big reefs with many small spaces where other animals live. Oysters eat algae (藻类). If algae grow too fast，they can decrease oxygen from the water-and even fish need oxygen to breathe!
But what happened to the oysters 100years ago in New York Harbor? Before then, lots of oysters lived in these waters. They were shipped to restaurants around the world. By the early 1900s, people were eating them faster than they could grow. Pollution was pouring into the waters. The harbor became seriously polluted. Since the 1970s, new laws have helped reduce poisonous waste. Some fish started to swim through again. But oysters were still missing-until recently.
The Billion Oyster Project began in 2014 to help bring oysters back to New York Harbor. The project has recruited (招募) more than 6,500 students at more than 100 middle schools and high schools to help grow, distribute, and study the oysters.
Finally, the students put the oysters back in the cage. Mr. Rodman lowers the cage into the river. In a few months, they will check the cage again. When the oysters are big enough, they will be moved to join a healthy reef in the middle of the harbor.
1. Why do students come to the pier over the Harlem River?| A．To do research. | B．To go fishing. |
| C．To buy oysters. | D．To clean up the river. |
| A．What oysters are like. | B．How oysters get fed. |
| C．Why algae grow fast. | D．What role oysters play. |
| A．People’s love of eating oysters boosted their numbers. |
| B．More oysters than before lived in waters in the 1900s. |
| C．Polluted water was partly to blame for the missing of oysters. |
| D．New laws in the 1970s were crucial to oysters’ recovery. |
| A．Oysters Raised in New York Harbor |
| B．The Harlem River Polluted Heavily |
| C．Nature’s Helpful Crew Brought Back |
| D．Teacher Devoted to Wildlife Protection |
5 . Leave-No-Trace Camping
For those of us who love spending time in the great outdoors, wild spaces are very special. These are places we visit to recharge, or to fill our hearts with natural beauty.
Its principles are to treat the wilderness the way a decent visitor would and leave everything just as you found it, with no evidence that you passed through.
You can carry out these ideals in a number of ways. Begin by packing out all your litter. Whenever you go camping, take an empty trash bag with you and put all garbage into the bag. In addition, try not to damage vegetation.
It’s also important that you should not take things away from the wilderness. Rocks, plants, flowers and seashells are all part of the natural landscape.
Leave-No-Trace camping is about being respectful and thoughtful. It’s about honoring the natural world and the creatures that live in it. If you love seeing an untouched mountain stream or a lovely field of wildflowers, then you’ve already taken the first step.
| A．This means not stepping into a wild animal’s space. |
| B．This is also called “low impact” or “no impact” camping. |
| C．Once taken away, they won’t be there for others to enjoy. |
| D．An increasing number of people take up camping in the wilderness. |
| E．When you put up your tent, try to find a place that’s already bare of plants. |
| F．We hate to see them littered with rubbish or any reminders of previous visitors. |
| G．Follow these basic practices and you can be models of the Leave-No-Trace philosophy. |
6 . Introduced species have a bad reputation. It has been believed that the species mix in a particular place should remain as unchanged as possible. But this is just an opinion. Other opinions are possible. A study published recently by Dov Sax of Brown University, thus asks how the benefits of introduced species might be better assessed, so that opinions can be more informed. Specifically, he identifies several aspects for that.
Initially, whether introduced species provide direct human advantage is taken into account. Dr. Sax and his colleagues ignored crops, since their benefits are obvious. But they included transplanted grass species that have gone wild，yet provide grazing(牧草)for domestic animals, and introduced forest trees that produce wood for construction.
Another factor is their possible benefit to the ecosystem into which the introduction has happened. Such introduction is sometimes made to reduce the risk of a localised species becoming extinct. Pyne’s ground plum(李子)，native to a handful of sites in the central basins of Tennessee but now transplanted to others, falls into this category.
The last value is experienced on an emotional rather than a practical level. Lots of people feel good about native wildlife, which is generally the main motive for its conservation. But that feel-good factor can extend to introduced species as well. Such value can cut both ways, however. For example, ring-necked parakeets, an Asian and African species, have been spreading through Britain for several decades. Some find them a colourful addition to the local wildlife, others a noisy competitor for native birds.
In light of their analysis, Dr. Sax and his team therefore suggest that researchers studying introduced species should in future create a clear distinction in their studies between changes that have happened and judgments about the value of those changes. In addition, when making those judgments, they should acknowledge all types of values, rather than focusing narrowly on one or two of them.
That done, many species will surely still be accused of possible damage. But others, badly thought of in the past, may not.
1. What is Dr. Sax’s study aimed to do?| A．Kecp track of introduced species. |
| B．Get introduced species fully understood. |
| C．Compare opinions on introduced species. |
| D．Identify consequences of introducing species. |
| A．To provide graze for local animals. |
| B．To produce wood for construction. |
| C．To build a new local ecosystem. |
| D．To save local species from dying out. |
| A．They don’t care about it. |
| B．They consider it acceptable. |
| C．They can’t put up with it. |
| D．They hold divided opinions on it. |
| A．Focusing on main values. |
| B．Evaluating evident changes. |
| C．Analyzing previous researches. |
| D．Presenting all-round assessments. |
7 . Nowadays, with the popularity of modern traffic and modern communication means, our world is becoming much smaller. Thus our life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but meanwhile it has brought new problems, the biggest one of which is pollution. For a long time ever since, man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution.
To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. What is the reason for the world to become much smaller?| A．The rise in pollution. | B．Science and technology development. |
| C．The earth is being polluted day and night. | D．The earth is blown away by the wind every year. |
| A．Air pollution. | B．Rubbish pollution. |
| C．Noise pollution. | D．Water pollution. |
| A．It makes much noise. | B．It makes us angry more easily. |
| C．It makes our rivers and lakes dirty. | D．It’s bad for all living things in the world. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
8 . When most kids go to the beach, they’re too focused on making sandcastles and splashing around to notice litter, but several years ago, for 7-year-old Cash Daniels, noticing a plastic straw sparked a lifelong passion for saving the planet.
Cash, who is now known as the “conservation kid”, has always loved nature. He grew up fishing along the Chattanooga River, after all! But once he learned that 80 percent of all trash from land and rivers ends up in the ocean, he couldn’t sit back.
He started with cleanups along the river, something that quickly went from a family affair to a community effort with volunteers and neighbors. In 2019, Cash, together with a Canadian conservationist, Ella Galaski-Rossen, started a nonprofit called the Cleanup Kids. Despite living in different countries, they managed to create educational videos on their YouTube channel. “We hope to be a really big nonprofit that eliminates plastic in the U. S. and Canada,” Cash said. “We want to inform kids and adults in the landlocked states of how their actions are connected to the water and the ocean,” Cash said.
Cash was selected as one of America’s top 10 youth volunteers of 2021 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. He also earned the title of National Honoree, where he received a$5,000 grant to go to a nonprofit of his choice, and he became the first person to win the Youth Conservationist Award two years in a row from the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
“I want to travel the world, teach others, and help them feel connected to the ocean. Because if you are connected to the ocean-if you love it and what lives in it—you’ll want to protect it,” he said. “This is my fun, and it becomes more fun with every new discovery.”
1. Which can replace the underlined words “sit back” in paragraph 2?| A．Fall asleep. | B．Lose heart. |
| C．Turn a blind eye. | D．Lend a hand. |
| A．To recycle waste plastics. |
| B．To make instructive videos. |
| C．To spread marine knowledge. |
| D．To appeal for ocean protection. |
| A．Sympathetic and devoted. | B．Initiative and talented. |
| C．Ambitious and humorous. | D．Determined and modest. |
| A．Passion fuels dreams. |
| B．Great minds think alike. |
| C．Helping others is of great fun. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
9 . Plastic fishing nets, the so-called ghost nets, abandoned yearly in the sea—about 1 million tons—are more than just rubbish; they’re a killer. Fish, sea birds, and turtles get caught in the netting and die, with more species at risk.
Much shocked at this, Pranveer Singh Rathore, a materials-science engineer and materials R&D manager at Samsung, and his team set themselves the task of giving new life to the deadly nets. Last month, Samsung revealed a new line of Galaxy products made in part from recycled plastic fishing nets for the first time. The company estimates this year alone it can recycle over 50 tons of ocean-bound plastic into the key components that will go into its smartphones, tablets, and computers, thus taking a bite out of the global ghost nets problem.
It’s no small task to give waste fishing nets a second act. The nets are typically made of a substance called nylon which tends to dramatically degrade (降解) the longer it sits in the ocean and is exposed to the sun. “This makes it nearly impossible to use abandoned fishing nets directly,” Rathore explains. Besides, high-performance smartphone, tablet, or PC has to be waterproof and can survive severe weather. The nylon in the fishing nets falls far short of that level of durability (耐用).
To deal with that problem, Samsung last summer teamed up with two partners: one to collect and transform the nets into tiny nylon pellets (颗粒) while the other to strengthen their toughness and durability. The end result: The partners hit upon an eco-friendly and high-performance plastic material that’s being used to build the component parts for its latest line of products. For example, two parts of the Galaxy S22 mobile phone—the key bracket and the inner cover—are made of these fishing-net plastic materials. Samsung aims to use even more upcycled materials in future product lines.
“That’s the hope for the globe and our mission,” Rathore smiles.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Rubbish in the sea. | B．Recycling the deadly nets. |
| C．Ocean species’ extinction. | D．Ghost nets’ threat to sea life. |
| A．The low level of durability of nylon. | B．The second act of waste fishing nets. |
| C．The great difficulty in reusing ghost nets. | D．The positive comment on Samsung’s products. |
| A．They are made from tiny nylon pellets. | B．They put an end to the problem of fishing nets. |
| C．They can stand up to water and severe weather. | D．They contain materials recycled from ghost nets. |
| A．It makes plastic easier to break down. | B．It marks the shift of Samsung’s mission. |
| C．It protects the planet from choking on plastic. | D．It raises public awareness of ocean exploration. |
10 . The Atlantic salmon (鲑鱼) of Scotland are hardy and determined animals. Each spring and summer, they return from the North Atlantic Ocean to lay eggs in Scotland’s shallow rivers,leaping up waterfalls and over barriers, pushing themselves upstream in enormous efforts. Some fail, and others succeed, but today they face yet another challenge.
During the mid-1980s, there were between eight and ten million salmon swimming around Scotland’s Atlantic coast; that number has now dropped sharply. There’s evidence of reducing the availability of the salmon’s prey (猎物) as climate change warms and acidifies oceans. New research suggests climate change is also bearing down on rivers, which is bad news for salmon.Adapted to life in cold water, salmon experience slow growth and population changes at high temperatures. Heat influences their health and reduces their resistance to disease.
“Now salmon are struggling to deal with the rising temperatures. There are recent records of 27°C in the upper reaches of the Dee catchment,” says Peter Cairns, director of an environmental charity. In 2018, Scotland recorded the lowest pole catch for salmon since records began. Evidence suggests that the degraded quality of river worsens the impact of our changing climate. “Atlantic salmon evolved using river systems in Scotland that were once way more forested and therefore shaded.” Yet Scotland is today one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with just 3 percent of its native woodland undamaged. Scientists have found that just 35percent of rivers in Scotland have enough tree cover for salmon survival.
A movement to get trees back on riverbanks is gathering pace. “Broad-leaf trees close tothe bank can reduce the light that enters the water,” explains fisheries scientist Anthony Hawkins. A new initiative called Riverwoods — led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and supported by Scottish Water and several other government and regulatory bodies — aims to create a network of woodlands along Scotland’s riverbanks, and has already received a number of large funds.“Money is not the pressing business. River health is complex, but tree planting is one of the most basic things we can get started with right away,”says Cairns.
1. Why do Atlantic salmon make great journeys back to the rivers?| A．They search for foods. |
| B．They reproduce themselves. |
| C．The rivers are relatively cool. |
| D．The seas are increasingly warm. |
| A．They grow more quickly. |
| B．They are more heat-resistant. |
| C．They are less active in water. |
| D．They are more likely to get diseases. |
| A．There is a shortage of food. |
| B．There is much fish catching. |
| C．The ecology environment has changed. |
| D．The river systems are unsuitable for the forest growth. |
| A．It is urgent to plant riverbank trees. |
| B．It is too hard to restore the river health. |
| C．There is enough money for the project. |
| D．There are too many vital things to deal with. |
