1 . We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions(排放)more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.
So what's the solution(解决方案)? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
1. What does the author think of new devices?A.They are environment-friendly. | B.They are no better than the old. |
C.They cost more to use at home. | D.They go out of style quickly. |
A.To reduce the cost of minerals. |
B.To test the life cycle of a product. |
C.To update consumers on new technology. |
D.To find out electricity consumption of the devices. |
A.The box-set TV. | B.The tablet. |
C.The LCD TV. | D.The desktop computer. |
A.Stop using them. | B.Take them apart. |
C.Upgrade them. | D.Recycle them. |
2 . Let's take a minute to think about the water we use. The human body is 60% water and we need to drink lots of water to be healthy. When we are thirsty we just go to the kitchen and fill a glass with clean water.
The truth is that we are lucky enough to have clean water whenever we want,but this is not the case for many people around the world.
A.We use water indirectly too. |
B.Every system in our body depends on water to function. |
C.It is to inspire people to learn more about water-related problems |
D.If children walk many hours a day to get water,they can't go to school. |
E.Did you know that around 750 million people do not have clean water to drink? |
F.In 1993 the United Nations decided that March 22nd is the World Day for Water. |
G.In this way,they know how it feels to walk a long distance carrying heavy bottles. |
3 . Michael Gonsalves, a chef of Golden Oak at Disney World, has a cuisine concept rooted in fresh, locally-sourced ingredients that originated from childhood harvesting produce from their family garden with his mom to eventually leading kitchens at Walt Disney World Resorts to employ a sustainable model.
“Truly the whole process starts with menu planning,” he said. Creating one dish leads into the creation of many more through the end-to-end use of products. As chefs, they are always searching for the best ingredients. It is then their focus to ensure they appreciate and respect all that go into each and every one of them. For example, they source chicken that is naturally grown and fed on a natural plant forward diet, no hormones (激素) or additives — that’s used in many ways throughout menus from a simple grilled chicken breast to bone soup. Nothing goes to waste.
When they do have waste, even if minimal, they shift it from landfills to transform it into compost (堆肥) that’s then used across the Walt Disney World property. They also support Second Harvest, a local community food bank where healthy produce, prepared, but not served, meals eatable for human consumption are donated. Disney also works with pig farmers when they can’t distribute foods past the point of safety for human consumption. Besides, wildlife reservations love to get the meat because tigers and wild cats can still eat that.
Their operations are “on a path to a sustainable zero waste kitchen of tomorrow” where chefs learn the full-life cycle of plants from seed to plate and gain a better understanding and appreciation for the product and their craft.
Golden Oak at Disney has millions of bees that produce up to 300 pounds of honey per year, plus those bees help with cross pollination (授粉) of their gardens on a daily basis. They advocate a culture that helps develop not only the quality of food, but an appreciation for nature.
1. Where did Michael Gonsalves’ idea about cuisine come from?A.His mom’s suggestions. | B.His dream of becoming a chef. |
C.His interest in delicious food. | D.His labor experience as a child. |
A.They are grilled to eat. | B.They are used to the fullest. |
C.They are divided into groups. | D.They are selected by quality. |
A.Give examples about zero waste. |
B.Introduce the unique habit of wildlife. |
C.Stress the importance of natural food. |
D.Explain the operation mode of the food bank. |
A.Disney World:New Cuisine Road |
B.Michael Gonsalves:Creative Chef |
C.Michael Gonsalves:Advocate of Food Diversity |
D.Disney World:Pioneer in Environmental Protection |
4 . Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000 three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels.
1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas’ house ________.A.is well worth the money spent on its construction |
B.is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation |
C.failed to meet energy conservation standards |
D.was designed and constructed in a scientific way |
A.Poor quality of the air inside. | B.Poor quality of the construction. |
C.Gas leakage in the kitchen. | D.The newly painted walls. |
A.relieve | B.accelerate | C.worsen | D.improve |
A.Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized. |
B.Because energy used to be inexpensive. |
C.Because environmental protection was given top priority. |
D.Because they were technically unavoidable. |
A.Energy Conservation | B.House Building Crisis |
C.Air Pollution Indoors | D.Traps in Building Construction |
5 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource.org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, mealworms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that mealworms can digest plastic. One mealworm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠). The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?A.It can be used to cool drinks. |
B.It is a weightless material. |
C.It is harmful when recycled. |
D.It is usually used on ships. |
A.Mealworms have amazing digesting power. |
B.Mealworms are not bad in their nature. |
C.Mealworms can rescue people’s lives. |
D.People misunderstood mealworms in the past. |
A.To find ways to help mealworms grow larger. |
B.To imitate their ways of breaking down plastic. |
C.To help develop their digesting ability. |
D.To make sure of their safety after eating plastic. |
A.by raising amounts of mealworms |
B.by environmental engineering instructors |
C.using a method inspired by eating mealworms |
D.without sending out dangerous pollution |
A.Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. |
B.Mealworms are genius at eating plastic. |
C.Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. |
D.Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide. |
6 . In my everyday life, I am on an ongoing journey to figure out different ways to reduce my carbon footprint on the planet. A carbon footprint is the measure of influence our activities have on the environment, in particular climate change. It is calculated by the amount of greenhouse gas we produce in our daily lives. Fortunately, nowadays it is much easier to make eco-friendly lifestyle choices than, let's say, 20 years ago. But one question has been on my mind a lot lately: is it better to buy new eco-friendly products or used traditionally produced goods?
After doing some research, I have decided that some things are better new and others are better used. Let me try to explain.
A carbon footprint is made up of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions(排放)of carbon dioxide(CO2)from the burning of fuels, including household energy consumption and transportation. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use-those related to their production and breakdown.
Based on this understanding, we have a good deal of control and responsibility over our carbon footprint. Things like dishes, clothes and furniture fall into the “secondary footprint” group, so less is more and we can focus on finding used goods to avoid the added production. However, for the car and the other appliances(设备)that we need we can go with new, energy-saving models. I heard somewhere that electronics and appliances give off 90% of their carbon footprint after they leave the factory. So it seems most reasonable to go for the energy-saving models. The main concern here is the amount of energy that goes into the making of new products and whether or not that extra carbon is worth the footprint the product will make once it gets to you.
1. What is the text mainly about?A.What appliances to buy to save energy. |
B.What a carbon footprint means in our life. |
C.How to identify different carbon footprints. |
D.How to make eco-friendly lifestyle choices. |
A.It is related to our consumption of fuels. |
B.It is made when we are buying the products. |
C.It is less harmful than the primary carbon footprint. |
D.It is counted as ours though not directly made by us. |
A.Using second-hand textbooks. | B.Using old and expensive cars. |
C.Buying new but cheap clothes. | D.Buying new wooden furniture. |
A.using the product | B.recycling the product |
C.making the product | D.transporting the product |
7 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
Ten-year-old Sami loved to visit his grandfather's house. The house was near the beautiful blue sea. At the seaside stood thick and tall palm trees with green coconuts hanging from them. When the coconuts fell down, Sami would break them open and drink the coconut water. Sami liked to play under the trees. It was always great fun to spend the holidays at Grandpa's place.
This winter vacation, Sami was surprised when he came to his grandfather's village. There were hardly any trees left. He saw houses built near the sea. People had cut down many palm trees and there was hardly any greenery left.
Grandpa's house was different. He never allowed his trees to be cut. He hugged each palm tree in his courtyard. He also named the two big trees near the front door--one was Petu, and the other Betu. He had planted them with his own hands and today they had become large, massive trees with thick trunks. They were tall and green and gave the sweetest, juiciest coconuts.
One night, Sami was awakened by a strange sound. He could not sleep. He tossed(辗转)and turned in bed.
Suddenly, the ground shook as if the earth was splitting. He sat up straight and then ran to Grandpa. He clung(附 着)to his grandpa tightly. Grandpa cried out, “It's an earthquake! It's an earthquake!" They ran outside the house. They thought that would be safe.
Suddenly, there was a loud sound; the earth was not splitting but the sea was roaring. People were shouting, screaming and crying, “The sea is rising! The sea is rising." The villagers started running away from the beach.
Sami watched dumbstruck(呆若木鸡).
The waves were rising higher and higher. Sami thought, “How big the waves are!" He went into the house again and saw water coming in from all sides. He was scared.
Sami remembered his mother telling him long ago, “You must always get out of the house if the floods come too near." He ran outside the house with Grandpa. But the water came surging(汹涌) in.
Waves about twelve meters high came rushing in, drowning everything. Water was all around and everywhere.
Paragraph 1:
Grandpa held Sami's hand tightly but a huge wave separated them.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
“Sami, Sami!” Grandpa cried. “Don't be scared, little one, come to me, quickly.”
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Earth Day
Denis Hayes, a young activist
The first Earth Day was effective at raising
10 . Last year, the bushfires in Australia burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people were killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, that was 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 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(严重) of wildfires. How land is managed can also impact the amount of fuel available for fires. Practices like controlled bums 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 are the numbers about in paragraph 1?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. |
A.Very quickly to adapt to. |
B.Very seriously to focus on. |
C.Very likely to be influenced by. |
D.Very easily to be protected against. |
A.Longer dry weather contributes to global warming. |
B.Global wanning is also a main cause of the bushfires. |
C.Warmer ocean temperatures leads to the fires directly. |
D.The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising. |
A.To stress the effects of Australia fires. |
B.To show the methods for land management. |
C.To predict the seriousness of Australia fires. |
D.To provide some advice about reducing fire damage. |