1 . Butterflies, a familiar sight around the world, are disappearing now.Over the past four decades, more than 450 butterfly species have been affected by threats from climate change. In the US alone, the monarch butterfly has seen a drop of 80%, from millions of them in the 1980s to only 29,000 in 2020; in 2017, scientists in Germany raised alarm bells after stressing that insects had decreased by more than 70% in 30 years.

As of now, there is no long-term data available to develop effective conservation strategies in those areas where the threat is particularly widespread. And long-term monitoring programs worldwide face a challenge—training locals as citizen biologists, which, although successful, requires significant and constant funding to cover wages.

In Ecuador, however, scientists have come up with a novel approach.In Yasuni National Park, they started a monitoring project where park rangers(护林员) were trained and then performed monitoring.The rangers were able to identify sampled butterflies with impressive accuracy-an 85% success rate-which is key to the success of these monitoring programs. The data gathered by the park rangers was so accurate that it did not significantly differ from data obtained by trained biologists in the area.

Other monitoring projects select individuals from the community to act as citizen biologists, so scientists may pull the plug on them when funding dries up. However, this study represents a long-term solution.Monitoring with an infrastructure (基础设施)already in place means that it can continue into the future regardless of funding.

"Our approach increases the possibility of constant monitoring in the long term by reducing costs such as lodging(住宿)and wages,"said lead author Maria Checa. "Furthermore, it also empowers(授权)local people, offers opportunities to public institutions to accomplish their environmental goals, and opens up possibilities for expansion into other highly threatened and important areas for biodiversity(生物多样性)conservation."

1. What do the figures in paragraph 1 show?

A．The rich varieties of butterflies.

B．The scientists' close attention to the butterfly.

C．The growing concern about climate change.

D．The sharp decline in the number of butterflies.

2. What stands in the way of butterfly monitoring?

A．The high cost of training staff.	B．The wide areas to be monitored.
C．The lack of professional trainers.	D．The difficulty in dealing with the data.

3. What might be the biggest success of Yasuni National Park's project?

A．Improving the lives of park rangers.

B．Producing many trained biologists.

C．Providing habitat for endangered butterflies.

D．Collecting reliable data for butterfly conservation.

4. What does the underlined part "pull the plug on" in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．End.

B．Control.

C．Examine.

D．Continue.

2 . In New York, students at 18 schools participate in a program called We Future Cycle. Started by Anna Giordano in 2014, it teaches kids to recycle, compost(堆肥), and reduce food waste.

Lunch areas at the participating schools are equipped with three clearly marked bins – compost, recycle and share. While the first two are common in schools, the third is rare, where kids can put their unwanted drinks, fruits, and even untouched sandwiches. Items in the container are available for any student that wants them. Whatever remains at the end of the day is donated to the food bank. Giordano says the three bins have helped reduce the number of trash bags from an average of 22 to just 2!

To ensure kids adopt similar habits at home, the non-profit has created extensive curriculum to educate families about the importance of sorting waste into the proper streams of recycling, composting, trash and food to donate They also urge parents to have open conversations with their kids about food choices.

But, as we’re all aware, kids aren’t the only ones that waste food - Adults are equally bad, if not worse! To prevent that, Josh Treuhaft founded Salvage Supper club in 2014. The occasionally organized dinners promise people a tasty multi-course meal for a mere $50 USD per person. It is also a plan to save waste because the delicious food is made from vegetables that are past their prime and, therefore, headed for the trash bin.

The other catch? Customers have to eat their meals inside a dumpster（大型垃圾装卸车）! The place, of course, is totally clean. It is just a symbolic gesture. In addition to helping people rethink their actions, Treuhaft also helps them do good by donating part of the profits to non-profits devoted to fighting against food waste.

1. What is the aim of We Future Cycle?

A．To collect money and food for poor children.

B．To educate children to treasure and save food.

C．To encourage children to share food with others.

D．To inspire children to learn agriculture knowledge.

2. Which word can be used to describe We Future Cycle?

A．Successful.

B．Official.

C．Impractical.

D．World-famous.

3. What do we know about Salvage Supper club?

A．It is mainly aimed for adults.

B．It is founded by Anna Giordano.

C．It provides free supper for people.

D．It has enjoyed great success in many schools.

4. What is the reason for people eating in a dumpster?

A．It is money- saving.

B．People like to be unique.

C．It can remind people of food waste problem.

D．A dumpster is much cleaner than a restaurant.

3 . The streets of Seville, Spain, are lined with over 48,000 attractive orange trees, producing over 16,500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that gives Seville the honor of being Europe's top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. Some of the produce is used to make jam, but most ends up in landfills. However, that may change soon thanks to an inventive idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.

The pilot program is being launched by the local government and parks department in cooperation with Emasesa, Seville's water supply division. Juice obtained from 38.6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment （发酵）in an existing biogas facility. The gas released from the fermented liquid will be collected and used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will generate about 1,500 kWh of energy — enough to run one of Emasesa's water purification plants. They say, "It's not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we're producing added value from waste.”

If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity generated back to its power system. In trial runs, 1000 kilos of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy — enough to satisfy the daily electricity needs of five homes.

“Emasesa is now a role model in Spain for sustainability and the fight against climate change," Espadas Cejas, mayor of Seville, said in the press conference announcing the pilot program. "This project will help us reach our targets for reducing emissions （排 放）,energy self-sufficiency, and the circular economy"

The latest attempt is among the many initiatives being carried out across Spain to achieve the country's goal of switching its electricity system to renewable sources by 2050 — and if everything goes according to plan, folly decarbonizing its economy shortly after that.

1. How are oranges on Seville's street trees mostly treated?

A．Be thrown away as garbage.	B．Be made into jam.
C．Be brought to market.	D．Be consumed fresh.

2. What is the officials' attitude to the program mentioned?

A．Critical.	B．Conservative.
C．Positive.	D．Concerned.

3. What can we infer from the text?

A．Seville's orange trees will be replaced.

B．Emasesa sets an example in saving water.

C．Emasesa's residents are using clean energy.

D．Spain is determined to develop alternative energy.

4. What's the purpose of this text?

A．To draw attention to urban waste.

B．To promote research into orange juice.

C．To show a trend towards sustainable energy.

D．To introduce an innovative electricity-making project.

5 . Just when you thought you were taking care of your health by eating enough fruit and vegetables every day, new research has come out revealing that you might be swallowing microplastic particles(颗粒)along with all those vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A groundbreaking study published in the journal Environmental Research has found that fruits and vegetables absorb microplastic particles from the soil and move them through vegetal tissues, where they remain until eaten by hungry diners, thus getting transferred to human bodies.

The researchers, who are from the University of Catania in Italy, as well as Sousse and Monastir universities in Tunisia, analyzed a variety of common fruits and vegetables---carrots, lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, apples, and pears. These were chosen for the fact that they are frequently consumed, usually one per day, which allowed the researchers to better assess the dietary intakes of MPs (microplastic particles) and NPs (nano-plastics). The samples were purchased from different sources in the city of Catania, including a small fruit vendor and a supermarket.

The researchers found that apples, followed by pears, were the most polluted fruit samples, and carrots were the most polluted vegetable. In the study’s discussion section, the authors wrote, “We can assume that the fruits contain more MPs not only because of the very high vascularization(血管化)of the fruit pulp (果肉) but also due to the greater size and complexity of the root system and age of the tree (several years) compared to the vegetables (60-75 days for the carrot).”

This study is important because it’s the first to detect microplastics in fruits and vegetables. They have been found in other sources before, such as sea salt, beer, water(bottled, in particular), shellfish, sugar, soil, and even air, but never inside fresh produce. It’s an alarming discovery that raises yet another red flag about microplastic pollution in the natural environment.

It’s an area that will likely see a lot more attention in coming years, with the study authors calling for further research into the question of microplastic and whether it harms the health of both plants and humans.

1. What is the study about?

A．The main cause of soil pollution.

B．The great changes in people’s diets.

C．The benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.

D．The microplastic pollution in fruits and vegetables.

2. Why did researchers choose frequently eaten fruits and vegetables?

A．To lower the cost of the study.	B．To gain widespread acceptance.
C．To improve the accuracy of the study.	D．To reduce the time for preparing the samples.

3. What makes the study quite special?

A．It showed the influences of MPs on plants.

B．It proved the source of microplastic pollution.

C．It presented the danger of MPs to human’s body.

D．It discovered MPs in fresh produce for the first time.

4. What do the study authors think of the research on microplastic?

A．It needs to be further studied.	B．It wasted them quite a lot of time.
C．It has raised people’s awareness of health.	D．It has attracted people’s attention to diets.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

There is a strong evidence that the rise in temperature has led to     1     increase in extreme weather and natural disasters worldwide, not only     2    (cause) serious damage, but also costing human lives. Climate scientists have warned that if we do not take actions     3    (appropriate), this warming trend will continue and there will be a much     4    (high) price to pay. In fact, people frequently hear news reports broadcast on the media about extreme rainstorms and heatwaves.

8 . Cars are “boxes collecting toxic(有毒的)gases” that stunt the growth of children, a leading expert has warned. Professor Sir David King said that parents should avoid driving their little ones to school and encourage them to walk instead. Vehicles(车辆)provide hardly any protection from the deadly gases, while walking is already known to be good for health.

Sir David told The Guardian: “Children sitting in the backseat of vehicles are probably breathing in polluted air. You may be driving a cleaner vehicle but your children are sitting in a box collecting toxic gases from all the vehicles around you. The best thing for all our health is to leave our cars behind. It’s been shown that the advantages of walking and cycling far outweigh the costs of breathing in pollution.” Sir David added: “If more drivers knew the damage they could be doing to their children, I think they’d think twice about getting in the car.”

His warming comes after recent research found that children’s brains slow down when they are put in high levels of air pollution. The study found pupils who breathed in toxic gases on the way to school had difficulty in performing as well as their classmates Spanish researchers said their findings appeared to show that polluted air is harming children’s brains as well as their lungs.

Toxic air is responsible for 40,000 deaths a year in the UK---and Brussels has warned Britain it could face if it continued to break EU safety rules. Former research has shown that too much polluted air will shorten people’s life length. Air pollution falls only behind cancer, obesity and heart disease in the biggest health risks to the nation, Prime Minister Theresa May recently said.

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

A．Slow down	B．Speed up
C．Set down	D．Keep up

2. What may Sir David agree with?

A．It’s better to cycle or walk kids to school

B．Driving costs more than walking and cycling

C．A cleaner vehicle will not collect toxic gases

D．Most people have a good knowledge of toxic gases

3. What is the finding of the new study according to Paragraph 3?

A．Air pollution only affects kids’ lungs

B．Air pollution levels have risen in Spain

C．Air pollution has greatly changed kids’ character

D．Air pollution may worsen kids’ school performance

4. What will the UK most probably do next?

A．Ignore EU safety rules

B．Take steps to improve air quality

C．Encourage people to drive cleaner vehicles

D．Stop parents from driving children to school