3 . 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.

2. Why was Pyne’s ground plum transplanted to other places?

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.

3. How do local people react to the introduction of ring-necked parakeets?

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.

4. What does Dr. Sax suggest to the future researchers?

A．Focusing on main values.

B．Evaluating evident changes.

C．Analyzing previous researches.

D．Presenting all-round assessments.

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.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．What oysters are like.	B．How oysters get fed.
C．Why algae grow fast.	D．What role oysters play.

3. What can we learn about oysters in New York Harbor?

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.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

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 . Coral reefs are the rainforests of the ocean. They exist on vast scales and are equally important havens of biodiversity. Reefs occupy 0.1% of the oceans.     1    

Corals are useful to people. Without the protection which reefs afford from crashing waves, low-lying islands such as the Maldives would have flooded long ago, and a billion people would lose food or income. However, reefs are under threat from rising sea temperatures. Heat causes the algae (海藻) with which corals are living together to generate toxins (毒素) that force those coral to leave.     2    

Research groups around the world are coming up with plans of action to see if that will help, such as identifying naturally heat-resistant corals and cross-breeding such corals to create a new type.     3     Without carbon reduction and decline in local, coral-killing pollution, even resistant corals will not survive the century.

Doubters doubt humanity will get its act together in time to make much difference.

    4     Carbon targets are being set and ocean pollution is being dealt with. Countries that share responsibilities for reefs are starting to act together. Scientific workarounds can also be found. Natural currents can be applied to facilitate mass breeding. Sites of the greatest ecological and economical importance can be identified to maximize bang for buck.

    5     It could serve as a blueprint for other ecosystems. Hard-core greens — those who think that all habitats should be kept unspoiled — may not approve. But when entire ecosystems are facing destruction, the cost of doing nothing is too great to bear.

A．This can cause a coral’s death.

B．But there are grounds for optimism.

C．And they host a quarter of marine species.

D．Coral’s global ecosystem services are worth up to $10trn a year.

E．This mix of natural activity and human intervention is important.

F．This research can also be brought to bear on trying to save entire ecosystems.

G．However, the assisted evolution of corals does not meet with universal enthusiasm.

6 . From Dec 7 to 19, delegates from around the world met at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (also known as COP15), in Montreal, Canada. After two weeks of intense debate at COP15, delegates agreed on Dec 19 to adopt a landmark plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. “Finally, we reached our destiny. We adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China’s minister of ecology and environment, announced on Dec 19.

The new framework is a commitment by 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by the next decade. It also will increase the expected annual financial assistance from developed countries through 2030 to help developing nations with biodiversity protection.

The aim of COP15 is to ensure biodiversity loss is changed by 2030, and that humans are able to live in harmony with nature by 2050.To realize these objectives can be very challenging. At COP10 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the parties agreed on the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets (爱知生物多样性目标). But, as of now, none of the 20 objectives has been fully realized.

It is important to turn consensus into effective actions. Yet, as recent talks have shown, an aspect of effective international action on stopping climate change is the cooperation of developed countries. Developed countries, however, have fallen short of their responsibility as they have failed to fulfill the obligations according to the COP convention to provide funding and technology to poorer nations who lack the means to combat climate change.

To solve this problem, the framework creates a new biodiversity fund within the UN’s existing Global Environment Facility. This came about as a compromise between developing nations, which wanted a new fund, and developed countries, which did not. In addition, a global youth initiative (倡议) was also released, hoping young people to be leaders and advocates for biodiversity conservation.

1. What is the aim of COP15?

A．To save at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by next decade.

B．To stop biodiversity loss and promote harmony between man and nature.

C．To strengthen the cooperation between developed and developing countries

D．To provide funding and technology to poorer nations to fight climate change.

2. Why is COP10 mentioned in the passage?

A．To show the parties didn’t fulfill the obligation

B．To show the objectives were too high to realize

C．To show it is difficult to realize the objectives of COP 15

D．To show Japan didn’t hold the meeting successfully.

3. What does the underlined word “consensus” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Statistic.

B．Emotion.

C．Intervention.

D．Agreement.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．International cooperation is important.

B．A new framework is made in the COP15.

C．Joint efforts are needed to fight climate change.

D．Historic COP 15 deals are released on biodiversity.

7 . Roads and railways have made it easy for people to travel around the UK, but have had the precisely opposite effect for insects. Alongside housing developments, transport infrastructure (基础设施) has separated insect habitats, leaving many pollinators (传粉昆虫) stuck on decreasing islands of biodiversity.

A new conservation project aims to address that by creating a network of wildflower superhighways across the UK. The B-Lines network aims to join the dots between meadow habitats, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely between them. Ten years in the making, the B-Lines initiative was launched by the insect charity Buglife on Tuesday and has already generated interest from unexpected quarters. “After the launch, some house builders rang up asking how they could include the network into house building, so it could have a really positive effect,” said Buglife’s Paul Hetherington.

Buglife has spent the last decade mapping potential routes for the insect superhighway. Hetherington said the proposed highway could give the UK’s weak insects a boost and a route out of habitats that become too hot due to the climate crisis and it can make a huge difference in easing declines. “The things that have really hammered pollinators are habitat loss, loss of connectivity of habitat, climate change and pesticides—this deals with everything except pesticides,” said Hetherington.

The B-lines network is not just a concept. Pilot sections have already been completed, including the South Wales B-Lines near Cardiff. “Since that was done, there have been recordings of one of our rarest bees in Cardiff town centre, which shows this connectivity can work,” said Hetherington. And in Norwich, Buglife has been working with Network Rail to plant wildflowers along the track. Anyone living along the proposed route can get involved in the project. All they need to do is let their lawns grow, or even just create a small herb garden, which Hetherington likened to creating a “motorway service station for bees”.

1. What can we learn about the B-Lines network from paragraph 2?

A．It will separate insect habitats.	B．It can help insects to pollinate.
C．It is still being planned now.	D．It hasn’t caused any attention.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The last decade.

B．The superhighway.

C．The climate crisis.

D．The decline.

3. How can people in Norwich participate in the project?

A．By recording the tracks of bees.	B．By cooperating with Network Rail.
C．By planting herbs in their own gardens.	D．By creating a motorway service station.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Roads and railways have caused bad effect on insects.

B．Transport infrastructure prevents housing developments.

C．Pollinators are stuck on decreasing islands of biodiversity.

D．Conservationists are creating “superhighways” for insects.

8 .     1     They create carbon dioxide and shade. They provide shelter to animals and insects. The wood they provide is used for buildings and other products we humans use and need.

Trees are so important that some people have made it their goal to protect them. We can call these people ‌“tree hugger”. It describes people who support the protection of forests. Today, the term ‌“tree hugger” describes a person who is an environmentalist.     2     For example, someone who wants to save a rare butterfly species or cut greenhouse gases could also be described as a tree hugger.

However, calling someone a ‌“tree hugger” is not always seen as a praise.     3     ‌“Tree hugger” described someone who was overly concerned about protecting trees, animals and other parts of the natural world.

Some tree huggers do go to extremes to protect trees. Take, for example, an American woman named Julia Lorraine Hill. For 738 days from December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999, Hill lived in Luna, a Redwood tree in northern California’s Humboldt County. Luna is huge, measuring nearly 61 meters tall and about 12 meters across, which has stood in Humboldt County for more than 1,000 years.     4     So, Hill did what any extreme tree hugger would—she moved in! As the website explains, Hill’s main goal was ‌“to bring international attention to the importance of protecting and restoring natural resources.” So, we can safely call Hill a tree hugger.     5    

A．Trees give so much to the world.

B．Human beings should all protect trees.

C．In earlier times, in fact, it was used as an insult(辱骂).

D．And I’m sure that she would consider that the highest of praises.

E．They want to protect nature and the environment - but not just the trees.

F．Nowadays, the environmental problems are more serious than in the history.

G．But that did not stop the Pacific Lumber Company from wanting to cut it down.

9 . The African penguin lives on St. Croix island off the east coast of South Africa. A new study has found that they are leaving their natural environment to escape noisy ship refueling (补给燃料) activities.

The African penguins once mainly raised babies on this island. But the population has dropped sharply since South Africa started permitting ships in the area to refuel at sea six years ago, the study found.

Lorien Pichegru is acting director of the Coastal and Marine Research Institute at Nelson Mandela University, which led the study. She said the organization had found that noise levels in the area had doubled since the refueling activities began. Scientists say high noise levels affect the ability of penguins to find and catch other animals for food. Noise also makes it more difficult for them to communicate with each other and map travel paths. ‌“This year we are at 1,200 breeding pairs at St Croix from 8,500 pairs in 2016,” Pichegru said.

The study recently appeared in the publication Science of the Total Environment. The researchers said the study is the first to explore the effects of ocean traffic noise pollution on a seabird.

Nelson Mandela University’s study collected some data to estimate underwater noise from passing ships. Oil-covered penguins were found in 2019 in Algoa Bay after an oil spill from ship-to-ship refueling. Environmental groups have called for the activities to be banned in the bay.

Pichegru said penguins in the area were already struggling to survive because of a series of issues, including industrial fishing activities. She added that the refueling activities did not kill all the penguins. However, ‌“It was just the thing that made the whole ecology tip over and then the penguins couldn’t cope with that,” she said.

1. What has the new study found about penguins?

A．They have difficulty in raising babies.	B．They can get used to noisy ships easily.
C．Their population is on the increase.	D．They are forced to leave the natural environment.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The value of Lorien Pichegru’s job.	B．The importance of ship refueling activities.
C．The ability of Penguins to find food.	D．Bad effects of noises on Penguins.

3. What might Pichegru agree with?

A．The penguins should be put in control.

B．Fishing activities should be greatly encouraged.

C．Refueling activities should be strictly managed.

D．The penguins should develop their survival abilities.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A diary.

B．A guidebook.

C．A textbook.

D．A magazine.

10 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.

One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.

Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”

Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.

Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.

In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.

1. Which section of a website is the text probably taken from?

A．Around the globe.	B．Technology report.
C．The secret of nature.	D．Healthy Lifestyle.

2. Why should we avoid planting non-native species?

A．They attract more insects.	B．They do harm to native plants.
C．They turn soil into desert.	D．They break the balance of nature.

3. In what aspect are native plants superior to non-native plants?

A．They produce more oxygen.	B．They prevent flooding more effectively.
C．They need less care.	D．They add more nutrients to the soil.

4. What does the author advise us to do?

A．Take effective measures to protect insects.

B．Raise environmental awareness on Earth Day.

C．Make great effort to better the planet's health.

D．Plant native plants to support local environment.