1 . Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been grabbing global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called “the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million native people. The vast areas of rainforest play an important role in the world’s ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity,” Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. “The overwhelming threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,” he stressed. “In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. “We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months,” Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended (超出) Brazil’s borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly talking about?| A．The effects of climate change. | B．The role of the Amazon rainforest. |
| C．The results of the Amazon rainforest fires. | D．The causes of the decreasing biodiversity. |
| A．The biodiversity makes the rainforests unique. |
| B．The rainforest fires result in serious consequences. |
| C．The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires. |
| D．The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires. |
| A．To prove the importance of rainforest. | B．To show the influence of forest fires. |
| C．To explain the process of the research. | D．To present the reduction of rainforest areas. |
| A．The climate change crisis is worsening. | B．The forest areas are on the decline. |
| C．“The lungs of the earth” is burning. | D．The world’s ecosystem is under attack. |
2 . Swimming at the beach or in a backyard pool are well-known Australian summer activities. But while it is usually a fun time of year, there is a serious side to summer that you might not know about.
In February, there were more than 80 different bushfires burning at the same time in New South Wales, a southeastern state of Australia. The Guardian newspaper reported that 42 homes were burned to the ground because of these fires.
Every household prepares for bushfire season and protects their property. But sometimes the fires are too big and people have to move to safety.
| A．The Australian summer is enjoyable. |
| B．The hot weather also causes other problems. |
| C．These homes are not like Chinese ones. |
| D．Thanks to climate change, this year’s situation is even worse. |
| E．That is why summer is also known as ‘bushfire season” in Australia. |
| F．The dry season lasts about six months, usually between April and October. |
| G．The extreme heat, which can go above 40°C in some cities, is very dangerous. |
3 . A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.
Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.
In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc（锌）an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.
The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.
One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.
Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.
The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.
1. Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?| A．China | B．Britain | C．America | D．Myanmar |
| A．By comparison. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By describing a process. |
| A．Climate change will be difficult to predict. |
| B．Climate change will lead to more good effects. |
| C．Climate change will be harmful to environment. |
| D．Climate change will cause more unexpected problems. |
| A．Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health. |
| B．The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most. |
| C．The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment. |
| D．Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent. |
4 . Food production does great harm to our environment. There are many procedures involved in the manufacture of food that result in greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Some procedures require the consumption of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as the transportation and storage of food products. Other factors that cause great damage to our environment include the overuse of fresh water.
The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume. Raising large numbers of cattle requires the production of large amounts of food for the animals. it's estimated that producing one pound of beef requires seven pounds of feed.
Land use is also a problem. If the cattle are free-range cattle, large areas of land are required for them to live on. This has led to disastrous forest cutting and the loss of rare plants and animal species, particularly in tropical rain forests in Central and South America.
Another problem specific to beef production is methane emissions (甲烷排放). Although many people are aware of the damaging effects of carbon dioxide, they don't realize methane's global warming potential is 25 times worse, making it a more dire problem.
Unfortunately, beef consumption is growing rapidly. This is the result of simple supply and demand factors. Specifically, there are two main causes of demand that are encouraging the production of more supply. First, the increase in the world population means there are more people to consume meat. The second factor is socioeconomic advancement. As citizens in developing nations become financially stable, they can afford to buy more meat.
Therefore, one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is for people around the world to significantly cut down on the amount of beef they eat.
1. Which of the following is TRUE?| A．Raising free-range cattle is eco-friendly. |
| B．People cut down trees for animal habitats. |
| C．Producing beef can damage the environment. |
| D．Carbon dioxide causes far more harm than methane. |
| A．common |
| B．urgent |
| C．beneficial |
| D．avoidable |
| A．more people are in demand of beef |
| B．developing countries raise more cattle |
| C．more land is available to raise cattle |
| D．the cost of raising cattle is relatively low |
| A．describe the booming of the beef production |
| B．emphasize the advantages of beef production |
| C．criticize the cutting of the rain forest |
| D．argue for a decrease in beef consumption |
5 . Google’s data centres and the offices for its 60,000 staff will be powered entirely by renewable energy from next year,in what the company has called a “landmark moment”.The internet giant is already the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable electricity,last year buying 44% of its power from wind and solar farms.Now it will be 100%,and an executive said it would no longer refuse to invest in nuclear power in the future.
Oman said it had taken Google five years to reach the 100% target,set in 2012,because of the complexity involved with negotiating power purchase agreements.The company’s biggest demand for energy is its data centres and it admits their overall thirst for power is growing.
Google was now looking to sign 10-year agreements for low-carbon power that was constant,such as hydro,biomass and nuclear.“We want to do contracts on renewable power,it could be biomass if the fuel source is steady and enough,it could be nuclear.We’re looking at all forms of low-carbon generation.”
But he said new nuclear power was “controversial”,the possible safety consequences were much more “dramatic” than with renewable sources,and the price was “much more difficult to guarantee” than when funding solar panels and wind turbines.“We don’t want to refuse to sign a nuclear agreement if it meets our goals of low price,safety,and other factors.We don’t want to rule that out,but today we can’t positively say there are nuclear projects out there that meet this standard,”he said.
The company’s 100% renewable energy does not mean Google is getting all its energy directly from wind and solar power,but that on an annual basis the amount it purchases from renewable sources matches the electricity its operations consume.
1. A “landmark moment” for Google refers to .| A．its efforts in saving energy |
| B．its growing demand for employees |
| C．its progress in using renewable energy |
| D．its becoming the world’s biggest company |
| A．Negotiations of agreements. | B．High consumption of energy. |
| C．Shortage of energy. | D．Tight budgets. |
| A．Nuclear power is an ideal choice. |
| B．Solar and wind power is not safe enough. |
| C．It’s unwise to invest solar and wind power. |
| D．Google is unlikely to use nuclear energy soon. |
| A．To show Google’s profit goal in global market. |
| B．To talk about Google’s new move to use energy. |
| C．To recommend a new kind of renewable energy. |
| D．To urge the public to use renewable energy. |
6 . Going green seems to be fad (时尚) for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22,2011,we decided to be green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyles. We now shop at organic (有机的) stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planets.
1. What might be the best title for the passage?| A．Going Green. | B．Protecting the Planet. |
| C．Keeping Open-Minded | D．Celebrating Our Green Year. |
| A．they were expected to follow the green fad |
| B．they didn’t know how to educate other people |
| C．they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
| D．they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
| A．They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
| B．They ignore others’ ungreen behavior. |
| C．They chose better chemical cleaners. |
| D．They sold their home-made food. |
| A．The government will give support to the green people. |
| B．The couple may continue their project in the future. |
| C．Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
| D．Our Green Year is becoming a national campaign. |
