1 . This season, the bushfires in Australia have burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people have been killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, this is the most casualties(伤亡) from wildfires in the country since 2009. The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have died in South Wales alone.

Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst and climate researcher at Berkeley Earth, said warmer temperatures and extreme weather have made Australia more susceptible to fires and increased the length of the fire season. “The drier conditions combined with record high temperatures in 2019 created main conditions for the disastrous fires. Australia’s fires were worsened by the combination of those two. 2019 was the perfect storm for being the warmest year on record for Australia and the driest year on record for Australia,” Hausfather added on Friday.

Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said warmer ocean temperatures are also contributed to more variable weather around the world. Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia. He said that once an area experiences drought conditions for two months or more, it increases the risk of fires catching and spreading. Those changing weather patterns due to global warming make drought events longer.

Climate experts stress that climate change is not the only factor in the severity of wildfires. How land is managed can also impact the amount of fuel available for fires. Practices like controlled burns and other factors can impact the risk to people and property, such as warning systems and the type of development in a given area. Changing those policies has great potential to limit future damage from wildfires along with changes to how fire management resources are dispatched(派遣).

1. What do the numbers in paragraph 1 show?

A．The causes of Australian fires.

B．The results of Australian fires.

C．The damaged areas of Australian fires.

D．The property destruction of Australian fires.

2. Which of the following best explains “more susceptible to” underlined in the second paragraph?

A．Quick to adapt to.	B．Sure to cause.
C．Sensitive to.	D．Easy to be protected from.

3. What can we infer from Trenberth's research?

A．Global warming is the root cause of the bushfires.

B．Longer dry weather contributes to global warming.

C．Warmer ocean temperatures promote fires spreading.

D．The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising.

4. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?

A．To stress the effects of Australia fires.

B．To show the methods for controlling burns.

C．To predict the seriousness of Australia fires.

D．To provide some advice about reducing damage.

2 . Clothing rental is a hot new industry and retailers (零售商) are demanding to get on board in hopes of attracting green shopper.

But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline investigated (调查) this question and concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.

Take shipping, for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.

She writes, ''An item ordered online and then returned can send out 20 kilograms of carbon each way, and increases up to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. By comparison, the carbon impact of a pair of jeans purchased from a physical store and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study by Levi's.''

Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most rental services, this usually means dry cleaning, a high impact and polluting process. All the rental services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene (氯乙烯), a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutant, still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with alternatives, although these aren't great either.

Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called ''share washing'' that makes people waste more precisely because a product or service is shared and thus is regarded as more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this, advertised as ''a way to share rides and limit ear ownership.'' and yet ''it has been proven to discourage walking,bicycling, and public transportation use.''

Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them in the dustbin after a few wears, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us too satisfied. There's an even better step — that's wearing what is already in the closet.

1. What is Elizabeth Cline's attitude toward clothing rental?

A．Approving.	B．Unfavorable.
C．Objective.	D．Enthusiastic.

2. The Uber example in Paragraph 6 indicates that      .

A．rental services are on the rise

B．clothing rental will be as successful as Uber

C．renting clothes might waste more than expected

D．renting clothes might make people lose interest in fast fashion

3. The author suggests that we should      .

A．give up renting any clothing

B．purchase inexpensive clothes

C．rent clothes rather than buy them

D．make full use of clothes we've possessed

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Clothing rental is a new fashion.

B．Clothing rental is retailers' preference.

C．Renting clothes is not that eco-friendly.

D．Renting-clothes business is in a dilemma.

3 . When you think of the Arctic, you imagine an icy land of pure white snow, which is considered to be the last really clean place     1    (leave) on Earth. Yet plastic trash has now reached the remote regions of the Arctic and the Alps. A team of     2    (scientist) has discovered large quantities of microplastics(微塑料) — very small pieces of plastic waste — in the Arctic snow. While microplastics have been found in sea-water, drinking water, and even in animals over     3     past several years, this is the first study to show microplastics in snow,     4     indicates it is an airborne pollutant that must be paid attention to.

The researchers state that microplastics in snow suggest that microplastics may be in the air that we     5    (breath). Therefore, it is really important     6    (assess) if microplastics also reach lung tissues.

Previous research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans,     7    (damage) ecosystems along the way. They start in our wastewater, when we wash clothes     8     plastic fibers. The wastewater then flows into rivers and out to sea, where they     9    (eat) by sea animals. If people then eat these animals, it means that we’re     10    (probable) eating the plastic as well.

4 . Burning coal to provide energy adds planet-warming carbon dioxide, or CO₂, to Earth’s atmosphere. As the planet heats up, experts warn that simply cutting greenhouse gas emissions (排放) will not be enough to avoid possibly disastrous levels of global warming. CO₂ must also be obliterated from the atmosphere, they say.

Existing experimental machines that remove CO₂ directly from the air are too costly to be widely used. But a new report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says effective carbon-removal technology already exists. It is not costly, or even complex science. It’s forests.

The report explains that planting trees and overseeing forests are cost-effective ways to clean the air. They also work well across large areas. Forests used to cover much of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. In the state of West Virginia, a kind of mining known as strip mining (露天开采) left the land there bare, without trees. Now experts are working to bring back the forests that once covered much of the state.

West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest is home to a rare group of trees. They are called virgin (原始的) woods; they have never been touched by humans. Shane Jones, a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, says the trees there were missed by mistake when the surrounding forest was cut down for wood many years ago. That mistake turned out to be a good thing; red spruce (云杉) forests such as those in the Monongahela are extremely effective at taking CO₂ out of the atmosphere and locking it into the soil.

Experts say, nature offers powerful tools to fight climate change.

1. What does the underlined word “obliterated” mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Prevented.	B．Cleared.
C．Produced.	D．Stored.

2. What’s the advantage of forests compared with the existing experimental machines?

A．They release more oxygen.

B．They clear more CO2.

C．They save more money.

D．They absorb CO2 faster.

3. Why does the author mention West Virginia in Paragraph 3?

A．To prove the place is unsuitable for human survival.

B．To stress planting trees is practical for clean air.

C．To indicate trees are difficult to live on such poor soil.

D．To show people in the state are now living a hard life.

4. What can we know about the red spruce trees?

A．They can only be found in Monongahela National Forest.

B．They were given the name virgin woods for beauty.

C．They were cut down for wood by farmers.

D．They could store carbon dioxide in the soil.

5 . Darshan Karwat is making headlines for having maintained an incredibly plain and continued lifestyle during his student years. The man gave up fast food, new clothes, and even toilet paper, until he got to a point where his trash（垃圾）for an entire year fit in just two plastic bags!

Karwat, who is originally from India, started the trash-free experiment when he lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and managed to keep it going for two and a half years. In the first year, he produced only 7.5 pounds of trash, and in the second year, he brought that number down to 6 pounds, which is a mind-blowing 0.4 percent of the 1,500 pounds of yearly trash produced by the average American.

Looking back, Karwat says that his inspiration to start the project came from a radio show The Story, on which he heard of a British couple who lived trash-free.

His trash mostly consisted of a few chip bags, glass milk-bottle caps, fruit stickers, and broken glass. He obviously had to make lots of sacrifices to achieve this – he stopped buying any kind of packaged food including cheeses, only drank milk from recycled glass bottles, and gave up on buying new clothes or stuff for his home – no gadgets, furniture, or even cups. He began carrying his own fork, spoon, plate, and a bowl everywhere he went, just to avoid plastic cutlery（餐具）.

“I needed to change the way I lived, and I had to get creative,” he added. “When a restaurant furnished a napkin-wrapped（包纸的）fork and knife, I asked the server to change them for cutlery without the napkin. I’d remember to say “No straw!” after asking for water and to make sure the veggie（素食者）burger I ordered didn’t come with a wooden pick holding it together. I did what I had to do, and it was awkward.”

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How a person inspires others

B．How Darshan Karwat gets famous.

C．Darshan Karwat and his no trash experiment.

D．A plain and sustainable lifestyle attracts the public.

2. Why did Darshan Karwat have the idea of living trash-free?

A．Because he is from India.

B．Because he has been in university.

C．Because he heard a story on the radio.

D．Because a British couple reminded to do so.

3. What did Karwat buy when he was making no-trash experiment?

A．Cheeses.	B．Furniture.
C．Milk.	D．Gadgets.

4. What Karwat said in the last paragraph shows that       .

A．he seldom went to a restaurant

B．it wasn’t convenient to live the life

C．the server seemed cold to him

D．he was proud of what he had been doing

6 . When you think of the Arctic, you imagine an icy land of pure white snow, which is considered to be the last really clean place     1    (leave) on Earth. Yet plastic trash has now reached the remote regions of the Arctic and the Alps. A team of     2    (scientist) has discovered large quantities of microplastics(微塑料) — very small pieces of plastic waste — in the Arctic snow. While microplastics have been found in sea-water, drinking water, and even in animals over     3     past several years, this is the first study to show microplastics in snow,     4     indicates it is an airborne pollutant that must be paid attention to. 

The researchers state that microplastics in snow suggest that microplastics may be in the air that we     5    (breath). Therefore, it is really important     6    (assess) if microplastics also reach lung tissues.

Previous research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans,     7    (damage) ecosystems along the way. They start in our wastewater, when we wash clothes     8     plastic fibers. The wastewater then flows into rivers and out to sea, where they     9    (eat) by sea animals. If people then eat these animals, it means that we’re     10    (probable) eating the plastic as well.

7 . This holiday season, holiday shoppers can for the first time send festive greetings that contribute to protecting rather than destroying our evergreen world. The beautiful e-card can be sent via TreeGreetings, available at http://www. TreeGreetings. com.

Each $8.95 TreeGreetings e-card comes with a virtual tour of the actual location where the gift tree will be planted along with a full-color, personalized planting certificate. The greetings feature musical slide shows with nature photography and inspirational messages.

“Our cards exemplify the spirit of holiday giving,” said Alan Shamir, founder and CEO of Your True Nature Inc., which markets TreeGreetings electronic products. “Our customers can give back to the Earth by contributing to reforestation while sharing holiday goodwill with friends and family.” TreeGreetings offers a full range of e-cards to celebrate any occasion including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new homes, congratulations, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.

Individuals and organizations can easily send personalized TreeGreetings to their entire holiday lists at quantity-discounted rates, and distribution on a selected date can be scheduled days, weeks, or months in advance.

Gift trees are planted and cared for by well-established, reliable non-profit organizations including the internationally recognized Trees, Water & People, which has planted 1.2 million trees in Central America, and Plant-It 2020, a foundation created by singer John Denver in 1992.

After having received a Magnolia tree for his 11th birthday, Shamir gained a lifelong appreciation for the value and joy of receiving a living growing gift. He said, “My tree and I ‘grow up’ together! It has been such a valuable and important part of my life that I want to give others the experience of having a tree planted for their special occasions.”

1. What will happen if you buy a TreeGreetings e-card?

A．You will be presented with a gift.

B．You’ll receive a photograph with music.

C．You can determine the type of gift trees.

D．You’ll know where the tree will be planted.

2. What can we infer from Para. 3?

A．TreeGreetings e-card brings high profits.

B．TreeGreetings e-card does prove popular.

C．TreeGreetings e-card helps protect the Earth.

D．TreeGreetings e-card deserves to be stored.

3. What do we know about John Denver from the 5th paragraph?

A．He has a high fame worldwide.

B．He must be possessing a big farm.

C．He founded Plant-It 2020 himself.

D．He’s abandoned singing completely.

4. Why did the author mention Shamir’s 11th birthday?

A．To show it has a lasting influence on him.

B．To emphasize he didn’t get gifts ever before.

C．To call on people to value teenagers’ growth.

D．To collect data for his support for the project.

8 . A sea turtle named Herman, an octopus called Octavia, and a seal named Lidia all spent this summer at the Smithsonian’ s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. But unlike the zoo’s other residents, they are not real animals. These creatures are actually huge sculptures and they’re made entirely out of plastic trash from the ocean.

These giant artworks, along with 14 others, are part of a traveling exhibit called “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea”. The Washed Ashore project, led by artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi, works to raise awareness about the problem of plastic pollution in Earth’s oceans.

More than 315 billion pounds of plastic litter the world’s oceans today. Most of the plastic is garbage from towns and cities, as well as trash that people leave on beaches. Rainwater, winds, and high tides bring the trash into the ocean or into rivers that lead to the ocean. Once it is under the waves, the plastic begins to break up into smaller and smaller pieces. It often collects in spots called garbage patches, which spread over large areas of the ocean.

Thousands of marine animals — including whales, sea turtles, and fish — die each year from eating or getting stuck in plastic bags and other items. Plastic pieces can also injure coral and kill sea grass.

Washed Ashore and other organizations are working to stop that from happening. Since 2010, Washed Ashore volunteers have collected 38,000 pounds of plastic trash from more than 3000 miles of beaches. They helped Pozzi create more than 60 sculptures of marine creatures that were harmed by plastic pollution.

The artworks on display at the National Zoo include a 20-foot-long coral reef, a 12-foot-long shark, and a 16-foot-long parrot fish. Each one is made from hundreds of pieces of trash like water bottles and sunglasses.

“These sculptures are a powerful reminder of our personal role and global responsibility in preserving biodiversity on land and in the sea,” says Dennis Kelly, director of the National Zoo.

1. Why is Angela exhibiting her sculptured animal?

A．To prove her talent in sculpture.

B．To attract most visitors to the zoo.

C．To care about the plastic pollution in seas.

D．To teach the people the use of plastic.

2. What is stressed in Para. 3 according to the text?

A．Why plastic is difficult to break up.

B．What problems plastic litter causes.

C．Where plastic pieces go at last.

D．How garbage patches are formed.

3. What are Washed Ashore volunteers doing?

A．Collecting pollution trash from the beaches.

B．Turning trash from the ocean into art.

C．Raising 38,000 pounds for plastic pollution.

D．Surveying the data of plastic litter in oceans.

4. Which of the following best describe Dennis Kelly’s attitude to Pozzi’s sculpture?

A．Doubtful	B．Supportive
C．Negative.	D．Indifferent

9 . Climbers at Qomolangma are being asked to clean up after themselves.

Qomolangma has earned the nickname (绰号) the World’s Highest Garbage Dump (垃圾场).

Climbing Qomolangma, the world's highest mountain, just becomes more challenging.

The government of Nepal is telling climbers they cannot leave trash on the trails. Each climber will have to come down the mountain with at the least 18 pounds of garbage. That's the average amount of trash a climber leaves behind on Qomolangma.

Officials say climbers are responsible for their own trash. “We are not asking climbers to pick up trash left by someone else,” said the Nepal Tourism Ministry. “We just want them to bring back what they took up.”

More than 4,000 people have reached the 29,035-foot summit (顶峰) in the past 60 years. Leaving trash along the way helps climbers keep their bags light so they have energy to reach the summit. “The trash problem in Qomolangma is not new.” Burlakoti says. “When the people started to climb the mountain, they started to leave their garbage there.” They have left behind bottles, food boxes and equipment. Last year, climbers carried down a total of four tons of trash.

The new rule came into effect in April, 2014. To make sure it is followed, climbers will have to deposit money (交保证金) before they climb. Once they climb back down the mountain, officials will check climbers at a return camp to make sure they have the required 18 pounds of trash. If they do, their money will be returned to them. If they do not, climbers will not receive their deposit and they will not be given a permit the next time they want to climb Qomolangma.

The goal is to make sure no more litter will be left on Qomolangma. “As we offer Qomolangma to all the people of the world they should take responsibility to clean it.” Burlakoti says, “After seeing the results from this, we will also apply this rule to other mountains.”

1. Why does Qomolangma get the nickname the World’s Highest Garbage Dump?

A．The white snow on it looks like white trash.

B．The government of Nepal transported trash onto it.

C．There is too much trash left on it by climbers.

D．The government of Nepal has used up the resources on it.

2. Who do officials of Nepal think should be responsible for climbers’ trash?

A．Climbers themselves.

B．The government of Nepal.

C．The Nepal Tourism Ministry.

D．Environmental protection organizations.

3. Climbers left trash along the way in order to ________.

A．provide guidance for other climbers

B．help climbers themselves find their way

C．get timely medical rescue when in danger

D．reach the summit without too much load

4. If climbers want to climb Qomolangma again, they must________.

A．get the climbing license

B．have a large bag

C．get the permission from the local people

D．bring back the required trash in the last climbing

5. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Protect our beautiful mountains

B．Bring back your litter when climbing

C．A new rule of protecting the earth

D．Qomolangma belonging to the world people

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The powerful Hurricane Barry weakened but remained a weather nightmare on Tuesday. It     1     (strike) parts of Arkansas with at least six    2     (inch) of rain and caused flash flooding that drowned     3    animal shelter and killed a puppy.

Heavy rains were falling. The Humane Society of Clark County issued an SOS after flooding drowned its recently rebuilt shelter.“SOS!We are flooded.It's on the building! ”the official said in a Facebook post.“We need help! Can any of you keep a dog    4    two at your houses? Help!Help!Help!" Video from the scene showed wet dogs wandering loose in the shelter, the floor covered in water. Many offered their homes and yards    5    the animals. A short time     6    (late), the official posted an update on Facebook         7    (say) foster homes have been found for all 72 dogs.“We are so blessed! People from all over have come to     8     (we) rescue. Donations. Cleaning.Fostering.It's really    9     (impress)." the post said. After the rainfall, a ray of sunshine shone brightly in the states    10    the storm burst last week.