1 . Too much light at night can cut the number of seeds a plant makes, a new study finds. Researchers put up street lights in Swiss meadows, far from any real streets. The setup was built similarly to urban light pollution. In these now-light-polluted fields, flowers had 62 percent fewer night visitors — insect pollinators — than did the flowers in dark meadows.

The researchers reported a cabbage thistle bloom hosts a guest insect after dark. Cabbage thistles are the most common flowers in these meadows. Fewer insect visitors at night could mean less pollen pollinated from plant to plant (the first step in making seeds). For the thistles, daytime pollinator visits didn’t make up for this loss at night, says Eva Knop, an ecologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Overall, night-lit plants produced one-eighth fewer seeds than did plants that got full nights of darkness.

Light pollution might affect a whole network of plants and their pollinators, Knop and her colleagues now suggest. Indeed, night pollination was not just a lonely business for a few special plants. There were lots of links between pollen hauls by night and by day. Plants with a lot of night visits were often very busy by day, too. Light at night that decreases seed numbers could over time mean fewer new plants. And fewer plants could mean less food and shelter for daytime insects. So a lot of pollinators working the day and night shifts could be affected, Knop worries.

The new study is the first to show how artificial light affects plants’ ability to make seeds. The test is also unusual because it considers all kinds of insect pollinators instead of focusing only on night-flying insects. The researchers paid special attention to the cabbage thistle, but they also mapped which kinds of insects visited other plants by day or night.

1. Why were street lights put up in the meadows?

A．For scientific research.	B．For urban development.
C．To reduce light pollution.	D．To attract insect pollinators.

2. What can be learned about cabbage thistles?

A．They are the most common Swiss flowers.	B．They rely on insects to help make seeds.
C．They grow slowly during the night.	D．They attract only night visitors.

3. How does light pollution affect pollinators?

A．By releasing harmful rays.	B．By damaging their sight.
C．By cutting seed numbers.	D．By destroying their shelter.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Night- flying insects matter more than daytime ones.

B．Light pollution may affect plants more than expected.

C．Researchers found ways to protect the environment.

D．Plants attract more insects due to light pollution.

3 . Carbon sequestration (碳封存) is a method that has recently gained a great interest among many researchers. It is associated with the capture of its compounds (化合物) from the environment, which reduces the progress of the greenhouse effect.

There are two basic methods of carbon sequestration: direct and indirect. The direct method is binding (结合) carbon compounds at the source of its formation—before it enters the atmosphere. The bounded carbon is stored for a long period of time in special landfills that are properly protected. The second method of sequestration—indirect—involves the use of plants that bind CO₂ by photosynthesis (光合作用) or when carbon compounds are bound in a soil environment.

One common method of direct carbon sequestration is the mineral carbonation, which is based on the formation of carbonate compounds as a result of the reaction of CO₂ with minerals or mineral waste.

Forest areas are examples of indirect carbon sequestration from the atmosphere. Sequestration with the participation of trees takes place in their aboveground and underground parts. Forest crops absorb CO₂ reducing the share of the compound in the greenhouse effect.

Oceans also play an important role in indirect carbon sequestration. It involves the introduction of such compounds as iron (Fe), phosphorus (P), or nitrogen (N) into the oceans, which results in the sudden development of small plant micro-organisms. The introduced compounds consist of valuable food for their development in the form of CO₂, which they absorb in huge amounts. The heavier ones fall to the bottom of the ocean, where the collected CO₂ is deposited for a long time.

There are many methods of carbon sequestration. The described methods, despite numerous improvements, still do not provide 100% effectivity for complete carbon binding. Even a small amount of carbon escaping over time can cause its sudden release, and thus the lack of the expected effect of the sequestration process.

1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A．Bounded carbon is environmentally friendly.

B．Carbon compounds will be stored in the soil permanently.

C．Photosynthesis plays an important role in binding carbon in plants.

D．The indirect method of carbon sequestration is better than the direct one.

2. What does the author think of the current carbon sequestration methods?

A．They involve complete carbon binding.

B．They are not perfect and need improving.

C．They are underestimated and should be valued.

D．They provide an ideal solution to global warming.

3. Which might be a suitable title for the text?

A．Carbon Sequestration—A Restoration Tool

B．Environmental Protection—An Urgent Issue

C．Bounded Carbon—A Threat to the Environment

D．Carbon Compounds—Ideal Food for Marine Life

4. Which of the following is the structure of the text? (P=Paragraph)

A．

B．

C．

D．

4 . If all goes well, a balloon will soon rise from Space Center in Sweden. It will float high into the upper atmosphere, where nothing will happen, and then return to Earth. Nevertheless, a collection of environmental groups is trying to stop it.

The campaigners are against the flight because of what comes next. The balloon is a test flight for a research being run by the University of Harvard. The research aims to test an idea called SAI, in which fine dust is added into the upper atmosphere to boost the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. A future flight will release a small amount of calcium carbonate dust into the upper atmosphere, in order to help researchers learn more about solar geoengineering — an excellent but theoretical idea of deliberately adjusting the Earth's systems to prevent the bad effects of climate change.

Opponents worry about two things. The first is the moral issue. If solar geoengineering works, it could reduce pressure to deal with climate change at its source by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. Furthermore, in order to keep temperatures low, the reflective particles (颗粒) would have to be topped up continuously. A sudden stop could result in very rapid wanning. Raymond Pierrehumbert, a physicist at the University of Oxford, says solar geoengineering is too risky even to research outside of computer simulations (模拟).

Not all environmentalists are opposed. The world is likely to miss the target, set in the Paris agreement, of keeping warming to 1.5℃."We're not well-served by not understanding what these technologies represent," says Steven Hamburg. Mr Hamburg favours small-scale geoengineering research. Other green organisations have also hesitantly approved of exploring the idea.

Exploration is likely to carry on in any case. Once a taboo, geoengineering is being taken increasingly seriously. A recent report on climate change suggested that SAI could help keep warming below 1.5℃ America has developed a research plan for solar geoengineering. Both China and India have launched research programmes of their own. Activists will continue to oppose experiments. But balloons will likely fly anyway.

1. How does solar geoengineering work?

A．Dust is put into the upper atmosphere to trap more heat.

B．Measures are taken intentionally to tackle the climate change.

C．Steps are taken deliberately to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

D．Dust is emptied into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight into Earth.

2. Why do environmentalists argue against SAI?

A．It is to be implemented on a large scale.

B．It has led to global warming against the original intention.

C．It is probably to miss the target of keeping warming to 1.5℃.

D．It may cause people to care little about greenhouse-gas emissions.

3. What is the best title of the text?

A．Should balloons, flight be banned?

B．Should solar geoengineering exploration go ahead?

C．How do balloons threaten the earth's climate?

D．How has solar geoengineering changed Earth?

4. What is the author's attitude to solar geoengineering?

A．Critical.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Frightened.

6 . 阅读下面材料,在题后空白处填入适当的内容（每空一词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

If you spend some time wandering through the Prairie wilderness, chances are that you’ll hear the snort of wild pigs, one of Canada’s most invasive species,     1    （original）introduced from Europe in the 1980s to diversify local livestock production. Wild pigs have exploded     2     number. Many of them either escaped from their farm     3     were set free on purpose. They have the potential to rapidly spread diseases, spoil crops and destroy natural vegetation in the course.

To make matters     4    （tricky）, they are highly adaptive and tough enough to survive freezing Canadian winters and often spend summers feeding on anything they can find, including farmers’ crops. Researchers say their living area     5     （grow）by many times over the last decade.

Environmentally, the rapid spread of the wild pigs pose numerous problems such as diversity     6    （lose）and a natural ecosystems change. African Swine fever, an incurable disease     7     has never been found in Canada,     8    （consider）the biggest risk.     9     outbreak of the fever would have a negative impact on the Canadian pork industry.

Hunting may seem like a quick solution, but     10    （fire）a gun at the pigs would only make the problem worse. As they’re very intelligent, they will become more cautious of human presence.

8 . Before the Second World War, everyone everywhere rode their bicycles—and then with the dawn of the 1950s the automobile killed the cycling culture. In the 1960s Copenhagen was very polluted and crowded with cars. It took the city planners and politicians a long time to reclaim (恢复) the streets of Copenhagen.     1    

Rush hour in Copenhagen is when 45% of the population travel by bicycle to their places of work or study each day.     2     It looks very different there than in my home country of Canada—where there is a very low percentage of the population who ride bicycles.

The environmental concern is a minor part of what encourages people to cycle in Copenhagen.     3     Is there a linkage to cycling and why Copenhagen is often ranked the happiest city on the planet?

The Danish don’t have big monuments, they have Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid (美人鱼),” which is life-size. This captures the spirit of the city; laid back, practical and responsible. Their monuments are big wind turbines (发电机).

    4     There are many other renewable energies. We just need to look around mother nature’s playground.

Trees bring rain. When they sway in the wind, they purify the air.     5     When the leaves drop to the ground, they help the soil become fertile but hold their shape for a long time—no matter how hard it rains. When you cut down trees for building, for farming, the land and rivers dry up. The springs as God made them are gone, as is every living thing found that requires water to survive.

A．Now bikes outnumber cars.

B．We have energy available from the wind.

C．For them, it’s simply a better quality of life.

D．They remove the carbon dioxide from our oxygen.

E．It takes more than geography to get people cycling.

F．This is the coolest bike project in the world right now.

G．Cycling in Copenhagen is an important means of travel.

9 . 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 topic of this programme is environmental     1    (protect). We human beings     2    (do) a lot of things at the cost of the environment to develop economy quickly in the past few years. I do think it is time for us to understand     3     importance of protecting the environment and do something about it. Today I would like     4    (introduce) some simple but useful ways that we can follow     5     (easy) in our daily life. Firstly, turn off lights if it is unnecessary. Then, go out     6     environment﹣friendly ways such as by bus, by subway or by bike. We can even walk to work when possible,     7     is really helpful for both of our budget and health. Thirdly, take a cloth bag when we go     8    (shop). Please don't use plastic ones. Of course the public should raise environmental awareness and realize     9     is our duty to protect the environment. Last but not least, the government should make laws to guide people's     10     (behave).