1 . A worldwide shift from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric vehicles could significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that humans emit to the atmosphere. But current strategies for vehicle electrification (电气化) can also shift some pollution to communities already suffering under higher economic, health and environmental burdens, researchers warn.

California, which leads the United States by a mile when it comes to EV adoption, offers a window into this evolving problem. The state is aggressively seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and has made substantial increases in wind and solar power generation as well as in the promotion of electric vehicle purchases. One tool the state has used is the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, or CVRP, which kicked off in 2010 and offers consumers money back for the purchase of new EVs.

Now, an analysis of the CVRP’s impact on the state’s air quality from 2010 to 2021 reveals both good and bad news, researchers report May 3 in PLOS Climate.

The good news is that the CVRP is responsible for making a dent in the state’s overall CO2 emissions, reducing them by about 280,000 metric tons per year on average. The bad news is that the most disadvantaged communities in the state didn’t see the same overall improvement in air quality. Those communities in fact saw an increase in one type of air pollution, tiny particulates known as PM2.5. That increase may be indirectly related to putting more EVs on the road. Although electric vehicles themselves don’t produce PM2.5 from their tailpipes, increased electricity generation, if it’s not fossil fuel-free, can. Renewable resources, including rooftop solar cells, supplied about half of California’s electricity in 2022. But natural gas-fired power plants still provide a large part of the state’s power.

“Electric vehicles are often incorrectly referred to as ‘zero-emission vehicles’, but they’re only as clean as the underlying electric grid (电网) from which the energy is sourced,” Mejía-Duwan says. The most disadvantaged 25 percent of the state’s communities also contain 50 percent of the power plants, the team found.

1. What do we know from paragraph 2?

A．California takes the lead in environmental protection.

B．Wind and solar power generation has dominated California.

C．California’s carbon footprint has been reduced as planned.

D．The launch of CVRP is intended to promote electric vehicle purchases.

2. What does the underlined “dent” mean in paragraph 4?

A．adjustment.

B．shift.

C．reduction.

D．increase

3. What is the direct cause of an increase in PM 2.5?

A．Putting more EVs on the road.	B．Increased electricity generation.
C．Warming climate.	D．Increased rooftop solar cells.

4. What will Mejía-Duwan probably agree with?

A．Zero emission for EVs can’t be ensured nowadays.

B．‘Zero emission’ isn’t good enough to describe EVs.

C．EVs, with no zero emission, shouldn’t be advocated.

D．EVs have a promising future as zero emission vehicles.

2 . United Kingdom officials are on a mission to limit the region’s impact on global warming and climate change. As part of a large-scale approach to fulfilling this goal, there’s one area of focus that sticks out: cows.

In March, the government launched its Net Zero Growth Plan, an initiative to limit reliance on fossil fuels, which significantly influences global temperature rise. One of the approaches is a focus on agricultural emissions, officials explained in their plan that they are expecting products effective in reducing greenhouse gas to enter the market in 2025 to help.

Agriculture and other land-use emissions make up about 11% of the U.K.’s net greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. “Livestock (particularly cattle) currently make up the largest share of these emissions,” the Net Zero Growth Plan says. Experts say these emissions from livestock are mostly from cow burps (打嗝).

U.K. officials put out a call in August for agriculture experts to provide information on how to make burp blockers (阻断剂) to reduce emissions, such as seaweeds, essential oils, and organic acids.” More than 200 people responded to the call, including NGOs, farmers and businesses.

“I don’t think we know enough yet about the impact those burp blockers will have on the efficiency of reducing emissions,” said Tom Bradshaw, deputy president of the U.K.’s National Farmers’ Union, “but it’s something that we have to investigate to try and reduce emissions from cow burps.”

And it appears as though this emphasis on cow burps is only one small part of the U.K. government’s plans, which aim to provide support to stimulate farm productivity, innovation, research and development.

Hundreds of farmers have joined the plan’s implementation. The website for the plan says, “It will help achieve our ambitious targets for the environment and climate, playing our role in tackling these huge, global challenges.”

1. What is the purpose of Net Zero Growth Plan?

A．To help United Kingdom rely less on fossil fuel.

B．To design a balanced diet for cows on UK farms.

C．To support farmers to stimulate farm production.

D．To promote products emitting less greenhouse gases.

2. What can be inferred from the data in Paragraph 3?

A．Agriculture contributes most to climate change.

B．The impact of agricultural emission is underestimated.

C．Cows make up the largest share of UK livestock population.

D．The largest share of agricultural emission comes from cow burps.

3. What is Tom Bradshaw’s attitude towards the Burp Blockers?

A．Doubtful.

B．Unconcerned.

C．Favorable.

D．Pessimistic.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．UK’s Fight against Carbon Emission

B．Cow Burps, Not Cars, Are the Real Problem

C．Burp by Burp. Fighting Emissions from Cows

D．UK Farmers Call for Support from Government

3 . According to a new study, human noise is a “major global pollutant” that harms a wider range of animal life than we tend to think. Published in the journal Biology Letters, the study suggests noise pollution not only harms lots of animals, but also threatens the survival of more than 100 different species.

Lots of species rely on sound for communication, for example, including many amphibians, birds, insects and mammals which use sound for vital business like finding mates or warning about predators (捕猎者). If noise pollution drowns out enough of these messages. it can threaten survival and the stability of their populations.

On the other hand, noise pollution can make it harder for some predators to find food Bats and owls rely on sound to hunt, for instance, which may not work if noise pollution drowns out the sounds of their prey like insects and mice. Even if noise pollution is mild, it might still force them to spend more time and energy searching for food, which could be enough to cause a decline.

Noise pollution is a well-known risk for whales and dolphins, but it threatens other sea animals, too. The researchers cite fish larvae, which are easily drawn to the sounds of coral reefs (珊瑚礁). This is how they find suitable habitats, but if their journey features too much noise from ships and other human sources, more fish larvae may get lost or move into wrong reefs, potentially reducing their lifespan.

Similarly, noise pollution influences the way animals migrate (迁徙), which in turn can have chain effects for ecosystems along migration routes. Some migrating birds avoid areas with noise pollution, the researchers note, which may change not only where they travel, but also where they establish long-term homes and raise their young. Many ecosystems and non-migrating species have come to depend on the arrival of migrating birds, and many others may be unprepared for their sudden absence, so this could cause a series of ecological changes.

“Noise must be considered as a global pollutant and we need to develop strategies to protect animals from noise for their livelihoods,” says Kunc, the lead author of the study.

1. What is the new study mainly about?

A．The sources of noise pollution.	B．The dangers of noise pollution to animals.
C．Why people should lower noise levels.	D．How animals deal with noise pollution.

2. What can we infer about bats and owls from paragraph 3?

A．They are very sensitive to sound.	B．Their hunting abilities are weakening.
C．They are easily attracted by sounds.	D．Their populations are sharply declining.

3. How may noise pollution affect migrating animals?

A．They may abandon their young.	B．They may give up their migration.
C．They may change their migration routes.	D．They may develop new eating habits.

4. Which of the following may Kunc agree with?

A．Measures must be taken to reduce noise pollution.

B．Noise pollution affects the way animals reproduce.

C．Migrating animals will die out due to noise pollution.

D．Nature reserves should be built to stop the loss of habitats.

4 . Young Alison Teal never rode in a pushchair or played on a swing on the playground.       1     She saw the view from atop a peak in Peru at just two months old on her mom’s back. They traveled the globe staying not at five-star hotels but in a six-foot-wide tent. From mountaintops to jungles, they immersed (沉浸) themselves in local nature and culture.

Between journeys they would return home to quiet part of the Big Island of Hawaii. Her front yard was the ocean, and her friends were dolphins.       2     Alison would dive into the water and release a sea leaf. A dolphin would catch it on its nose and throw it to the next player. Over the years, the dolphins grew to trust Alison.       3     She let them take the lead in their interactions. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley and then graduating from a film school, Alison continued her world travels. Her adventurous experience and survival skills landed her a spot on the reality show Naked and Afraid, in which she and a co-constant had to live on a deserted island for 21 days. Alison’s deep knowledge of how to live in a wildness saved the pair.       4     “After that, I couldn’t ignore our plastic problem,” says Alison. “I decided to protect our greatest resource, the ocean.”

Along with sharing her mission with her Instagram followers, the conservationist gave a TED talk on her discover.       5     Besides, she helped ban plastic bags in California. Her book, Alison’s Adventures: Your Passport to the World, is filled with travel tales and environment lessons. Alison believes all of us can make changes to protect the Earth.

A．How did Alison become a filmmaker?

B．What was their way of playing catch?

C．She launched a line of recycled surfboards.

D．At an early age, she began exploring the world.

E．Therefore, they approached her whenever she was in the water.

F．She was mostly home-schooled as the family traveled the globe.

G．But what shocked her was the amount of rubbish that washed up on the shore.

5 . Plastic is low-cost and long-lasting. It is not easily degraded(降解) because natural degradation processes can’t deal with its chemical components(成分). It takes in other ocean-present harmful substances. These chemical and dangerous components are gradually got into the atmosphere with additives such as color, which turns out to be really harmful when the plastic breaks down.

The design and development of new plastic products was sped up after World War II. Life without plastic seemed impossible in the modern age. But even though plastic was quite convenient, the dark side of it was seen as people began to enjoy the throw-away community. Many plastic products, such as plastic bags, have a lifetime of a few minutes to hours. However, they’ll stay in the environment for hundreds of years. We are destroying the very world that nurtured us.

Just 9% of plastic has been recycled and 12% burnt after production rose in the 1950s, which leave s about 79% of the 8.3 billion tons produced sitting in landfills(垃圾填埋场) or damaging our fields, oceans, and waterways. And each year the plastic ends up as contaminants. So to beat plastic pollution, we need to work together.

While plastic burning reduces the amount of waste dumped into oceans and lands, harmful gases are still produced, which also leads to greenhouse gases. However, if we make a firm decision and use modern waste management methods, we will be able to create a safe and healthy world. It is high time that we as responsible global citizens, took on the duty of protecting our environment and made great effort in saving our mother earth, instead of just leaving everything to our government. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s make a promise to successfully deal with plastic waste and protect our world from all possible risks.

1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?

A．The harm of plastic.	B．The convenience of plastic.
C．The protection of plastic.	D．The use of plastic.

2. Which word can best describe the writer’s feeling in Paragraph 2?

A．Happy.

B．Worried.

C．Excited.

D．Relaxed.

3. What does the underlined word “contaminants” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Things that cause pollution.	B．Things that produce plastic.
C．Things that cost money.	D．Things that help people.

4. From which is the text most probably taken?

A．A short story.

B．A speech.

C．A newspaper.

D．A notice.

6 . [1] What do North Carolina’s red wolves, the Eurasian beaver and Przewalski’s horse have in common?

[2] All of them went extinct in the wild — and all of them came back, thanks to reintroduction programs.

[3] Conservation scientists use translocation and captive breeding (圈养繁殖) to re-establish animal populations that have died out in the wild — either entirely or in certain areas. Reintroducing extinct-in-the-wild animals to their native territories can be a double win: helping to restore damaged ecosystems, as well as increasing population numbers.

[4] But setting a species loose in the wild is a risky balancing act. Reintroductions often take years and involve multiple stages. Before bringing back a species, conservationists have to evaluate the threat level — both to and from the animal — and the role it played in the ecosystem. In places where wild populations have died out more recently, there’s a better chance of success. The less time that has passed, the more likely that environment is the same as when the species went extinct. But scientists still need to address the reason why it went extinct in that environment to begin with.

[5] Reintroduced animals can have a positive impact on the landscape, but how fast this happens depends on the type of animal and how damaged the environment is. Herbivores (食草动物) can make a significant change relatively quickly, while predators tend to be reintroduced slowly and carefully. Although they can be useful for managing pest species, conservationists have to ensure they don’t overhunt or threaten other vulnerable animals.

[6] A 2020 study highlighted species reintroduction as one of the most effective ways to save endangered animals. The study estimates that conservation action between 1993 and 2020 saved up to 48 species of birds and mammals from extinction, and that the rate of extinction would have been three to four times higher, during that period, without those efforts.

1. What are the reintroduction programs aimed at?

A．Bringing back a species.	B．Enlarging a species’ native habitats.
C．Increasing a species’ number.	D．Developing new breeding methods.

2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．The collapse of ecosystem.	B．Evaluating the threat level.
C．The extinction of a wild population.	D．Setting a species loose in the wild.

3. Which of the following may affect the rate of environmental restoration?

A．The size of animals.	B．The bio-diversity of animals.
C．The feature of landscapes.	D．The extent of environmental damage.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To call on active measures to save species.	B．To highlight the necessity of bio-diversity.
C．To introduce an effective conservation action.	D．To stress the importance of a balanced ecosystem.

7 . Human-made plastic materials have become so essential that it can be hard to grasp that they barely existed a century ago. At my desk, I'm typing on a plastic keyboard, scrolling a plastic mouse, and picking up a plastic pen. Day after day, more plastic enters my life, whether it's a shampoo bottle or new running shoes.

The invention of synthetic(合成的) plastics in the early 1900s was a success of innovation，with chemists realizing they could orchestrate molecular structures(编排分子结构) to create materials that are lighter, stronger, brighter, cheaper, more flexible and more durable. During World War II, nylon and other plastics became essential to the war effort. When the war ended, the initial plastics industry focused on making products for everyday life.

But the overuse of plastic has become a curse, with abandoned objects blocking waterways and landfills. And when plastic does finally fall apart, tiny particles go into the environment. We've known for years that microplastics have spread into the oceans. In this issue, we report on research confirming that microplastics are also storing up in our bodies. Plastic particles have been found in human blood, in body tissues and in breast milk.

Talk about environmental pollution hitting close to home. As independent journalist Anne Pinto-Rodrigues reports, microplastics probably enter the human body through the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. Though consuming microplastics along with lunch is frightening enough, the idea that we might be taking in invisible bits with each breath feels much more disturbing.

Researchers have only recently begun quantifying the abundance of microplastics in the air, so it's not yet clear where people face the most exposure. Also unclear is what impact, if any, microplastics have on human health. Science is full of examples of unintended consequences.

Microplastics are an unintended consequence that we can't put back into the Tupperware. Merely switching from plastic to paper bags won't fix this problem. Science now needs to determine the extent of the threat microplastics might pose and invent new ways to protect against any harms.

1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about concerning plastic?

A．The widespread use.	B．The serious consequences.
C．The recycling methods.	D．The chemical structure.

2. Which can replace the underlined part “hitting close to home” in paragraph 4?

A．that is shocking	B．that is declining
C．that is appealing	D．that is demanding

3. What's the author's attitude towards plastic?

A．It can take the place of paper.

B．It poses no threat to some extent.

C．New solutions are expected to deal with its harms.

D．Tupperware is to blame for its unintended results.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Plastic bags or paper bags?

B．Microplastics: To die out or not?

C．Will you welcome plastics into your life?

D．Where does plastic go when we're done with it?

8 . When glaciers melt, they leave behind infertile (贫瘠的) landscapes. But a new study found that within just three years, such exposed land was restored by llamas (美洲驼), whose activity enriched the soil and promoted plant growth. By the foot of Peru’s melting Uruashraju glacier, researchers partnered with local farmers to farm llamas on four specific plots. For three days a month from 2019 to 2022, the llamas grazed (吃青草) the plots, fertilizing them with waste and spreading seeds from droppings.

As is the case worldwide, glaciers are disappearing in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountains at an alarming rate. And as the ice melts, nearby ecosystems wither: They lose access to summertime supplies of freshwater and sometimes encounter harmful acidic minerals in rocks once covered by the glaciers.

Llamas may help count er some of these effects. Their transformation of the land, as seen in the new study, could reduce rock weathering and help the soil hold onto more dampness, thus limiting the acidic runoff that can poison farmers’ crops. Such pollution is one reason why local farmers partnered with the researchers. The animals’ behavior could one day even generate new grasslands as soil quality improves.

The idea that animal grazing may positively impact a landscape is not new. Nor is rewilding, the push to bring key species back to their native ecosystems, unique to the Cordillera Blanca mountains. In Finland, for example, the Indigenous Sami are working to reintroduce reindeer in deforested land, potentially restoring it. But the size and speed of the changes the llamas helped bring about surprised the researchers. From 2021 to 2022, the average amount of plant cover in the llama plots grew from about 9 percent to nearly 14 percent—faster than it did in four control plots. The research underscores the valuable roles animals play in shaping landscapes, says ecologist Kelsey Reider of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., “The animals themselves are doing a lot.”

1. What did the new study find?

A．Llamas could help improve ecology.	B．Llamas needed to be exposed to soil.
C．Llamas might survive poor situation.	D．Llamas were able to stop ice melting.

2. What does the underlined word “wither” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Expand.

B．Arise.

C．Integrate.

D．Worsen.

3. Why did the farmers work with the researchers?

A．Because they longed to be more learned.

B．Because they profited from the research.

C．Because they wanted to keep llamas away.

D．Because they failed to know llamas’ behavior.

4. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．Llamas restore the forest in Finland.	B．Wildlife helps a lot in restoring nature.
C．The idea of rewilding isn’t common.	D．The research should collect more data.

9 . A cap and trade system is a method for managing pollution, with the end goal of reducing the overall pollution in a nation, region, or industry. Many supporters of pollution control are in favor of the concept of such systems, arguing that well-designed cap and trade systems are extremely effective, and that they make sense economically as well.

Under a cap and trade system, a government authority first sets a cap, deciding how much pollution in total will be allowed. Next, companies are issued credits, essentially licenses to pollute, based on how large they are, what industries they work in, and so forth. If a company comes in below its cap, it has extra credits that it may trade with other companies.

For companies that come in below their caps, this system is great, because they can sell their extra credits, profiting while reducing their pollution. For companies that cannot get their pollution under control, the system punishes them for their excess pollution while still bringing overall pollution rates down. In a sense, the need to purchase credits acts as a fine, encouraging companies to reduce their emissions.

By creating a cap, nations make it clear that they want to reduce overall emissions, rather than just fining companies for excessive emissions or trying to force all companies to reduce their emissions by a set percentage. Cap and trade systems allow for flexibility, which usually benefits the market. Some people view the concept as preferable to a taxation or fining system, because it is easier to administer and it results in a pollution reduction. These systems are most commonly used for carbon emissions, leading people to refer to it as “carbon trading”, and there is a potential for a global carbon trading market, in which more efficient nations could trade credits with other countries.

1. What can be inferred about the cap and trade system?

A．It can greatly promote economy in a nation.

B．It will soon be welcomed by all companies.

C．It is well-designed and extremely effective.

D．It is environmentally and economically friendly.

2. What kind of companies can trade their extra credits?

A．Those who always have more extra credits.

B．Those whose overall pollution is below their caps.

C．Those who have never been fined for overall pollution.

D．Those who help other companies reduce their pollution.

3. What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A．All the pollution will be reduced by the cap and trade system.

B．Carbon trading is likely to be conducted among countries.

C．Carbon trade is more effective than the cap and trade system.

D．The taxation and fining system now is out of use.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The use of credits in reducing pollution.

B．Efficient ways to manage overall pollution.

C．An introduction of the cap and trade system.

D．Potential application of the cap and trade system.

10 . 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。

World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on February 2^nd, aims to raise global awareness about the important role of wetlands for people and our planet.

World Wetlands Day     1     (adopt) by the United Nations in 2021. It makes efforts     2     (realize) the long Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and deal with global issues related to climate and biodiversity (生物多样性) challenges. Now with seven years left for the SDGs, the UN is calling again to restore wetlands.

This year’s theme is “Time for Wetland Restoration,”     3     brings to attention the rapid loss of wetland systems worldwide. In just 50 years, 35% of the world’s wetlands     4     (lose) since 1970. Wetlands are disappearing three times     5     (fast) than forests and are Earth’s most     6     (threaten) ecosystem. Human activities that lead to loss of wetlands include construction, pollution, overfishing and so on. It is     7     opportunity for us to rethink and change how humans impact the environment.

While wetlands cover just 6% of the earth’s surface, they are home     8     about 40% of the world’s plant and animal species. Wetlands provide people with food and water, offering natural protection and     9     (serve) many other important functions.

Huge changes are needed to solve the climate and biodiversity crisis, yet there are small things we can all do to keep our wetlands and our wildlife     10     (health).