1 . Studies have shown that walking among trees makes us relaxed.     1     There’s plenty of research showing the link between being in nature and being happy, but most of the research has focused on adults.

    2     Explaining the motivation behind the study, researchers note that with environmental issues such as global warming, more studies are focusing on the relationships between humans and nature to find solutions to these problems, and the future of the planet lies in the hands of children and their actions. However, few studies focus on this aspect.

For the study, researchers worked with 296 children between the ages of 9 and 12. To measure how connected they were to nature, the kids were asked how much they enjoy activities like seeing wildflowers and wild animals, hearing sounds of nature and touching animals and plants.     3     They also found that the more concerned children were about the environment and nature, the more likely they were to be happy.

So exposure to nature is related to active behaviors and happiness of children. What does that mean to adults? As we all know, children usually tend to follow adults, especially their parents’ behaviors.     4     And if parents enjoy being close to nature, so will their children.

Researchers say that children need role models who can guide them to nature with excitement and an attitude of a lifelong learner. Parents don’t have to be experts in environmental science or nature studies.     5    

A．It’s so good going for a walk around trees.

B．Even just smelling the trees helps reduce anxiety.

C．That’s to say, when adults are outside and appreciate nature, kids learn by example.

D．What’s more important is that they spend time together with children exploring nature.

E．They found that the kids connected to nature were more likely to behave actively.

F．In a new study, researchers wanted to see if kids get the same benefits from being outdoors.

G．Researchers will study more about the connection between children’s happiness and nature.

3 . Researchers are trying to explore creative ways to reduce e-waste. Now one team has invented a water-activated battery (水激活电池) made of paper and other sustainable materials.

Some e-waste is relatively large: old phones and air conditioners, for instance. Other e-waste is more unnoticeable, such as batteries. It’s these small batteries that are big problems. Nobody really pays attention to where they end up. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology are working to address this problem. They invented a water-activated paper battery using environmentally friendly materials that could eventually replace the more harmful batteries common in low-power devices.

A traditional battery is made of plastic, metal or other harmful materials. The paper battery works the same as a traditional battery. It has a positively charged (带电的) side, a negatively charged side, and a conductive material (传导材料) between the two. In the new battery, the positively and negatively charged sides are inks printed onto the front and back of a piece of paper. That paper is filled with salt, which dissolves (溶解) when the paper is wet. When the paper is dry, the battery is off. Once the paper is wet, the battery activates within 20 seconds. The new battery’s operating performance worsens as the paper dries. When the scientists rewet the paper during testing, the battery begins to work again and lasts an hour before beginning to dry out again.

Although the researchers showed that their battery could power an alarm clock, it is unlikely to replace standard batteries now. It is hard to predict a time line for producing such batteries in a large number, but that future may not be so far off.

“This really starts with the development of sustainable materials,” Nyström, the lead author, explains, “From there, I think we are able to create something that is quite useful.”

1. Why did the researchers invent the new batteries?

A．To replace harmful batteries.	B．To develop sustainable materials.
C．To power common devices.	D．To make e-waste more noticeable.

2. In what aspect are the traditional and the new batteries different?

A．Sizes.

B．Usages.

C．Materials.

D．Functions.

3. What do we know about the paper used in the new batteries?

A．It dries within 20 seconds.	B．It can be used many times.
C．It has ink on the front side.	D．It breaks easily in salt water.

4. What can be inferred about the new battery from the last two paragraphs?

A．It stores huge power.	B．It takes ages to make it.
C．It is highly profitable.	D．It has a promising future.

4 . Ever been hungry enough to eat a house? Now, you actually could.

Food waste is a big problem in Japan and globally. Japan produced around 5.7 million tons of food waste in 2019. The government plans to reduce that by around 2.7 million tons by 2030. Tokyo University researchers Kota Machida and Yuya Sakai have developed a way to transform food waste into cement(水泥) for construction use and more. This is the first-ever process created for making cement entirely from food waste. The researchers say their product is four times as strong as traditional concrete. This particular cement can be used to make things like tea cups or chairs as well. However, there’s one additional feature — it’s also edible(可食的).

Kota and Yuya are the intelligence behind the formation of Fabula Inc., a company with purposes of reducing food waste, and helping fight global warming.

As expected, something this unique took years to develop. It took a few attempts to find just the right process. Kota and Yuya created the unique technology while researching possible environmentally-friendly materials to replace cement-based concrete. Cement production accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

After a few failures, they realized they could get the cement to bind(黏合) by adjusting the temperatures. “The most challenging part was that each type of food waste requires different temperatures,” Yuya said. So the researchers had to observe them and respond in time. In the experiments, Kota and Yuya have successfully made cement using tea leaves, coffee grounds, cabbage and even lunchbox leftovers.

Fabula Inc. is currently working to make tea cups and furniture, but Yuya is thinking a little bit bigger. Their product could provide relief in the form of edible emergency shelters in disaster ones. “For example, if food cannot be delivered to the people, they could eat makeshift beds made out of food cement,” he said. To eat the material, a person needs to break it apart and boil it.

1. Which is one of Kota and Yuya’s purposes in making use of food waste?

A．To handle climate change.	B．To offer Fabula Inc. more cement.
C．To warn how serious food waste is.	D．To extend concrete’s service life.

2. What did Kota and Yuya assess previously about making edible cement?

A．Its damage to the environment.	B．Its cost of recycling the cement.
C．Its difficulties they would face.	D．Its popularity among the public.

3. What made the experiment of making cement out of food waste harder?

A．Making sure to make cement tasty.	B．Selecting correct food waste timely.
C．Getting cement broken apart easily.	D．Regulating the temperatures constantly.

4. What does the underlined word “makeshift” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Bendable.

B．Strong.

C．Temporary.

D．Commercial.

6 . The newly-elected president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says that his country should withdraw (退出) from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing in the way of economic success. During the election campaign, he promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native people and wildlife. Are Brazil’s rainforests in danger?

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is called “the lungs of the planet.” Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots and release water vapor into the air, forming tiny drops of water. The Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist, says that it is almost impossible to say Just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.

Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups. One supporter, Luiz Carlos, noted that farmers “are not invaders, they are producers.” He blamed the past government for supporting rainforest protections at the cost of farmers. “Brazil,” he said, “will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years.”

Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo, says that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”

Other scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland.

1. The first paragraph is intended to ________.

A．draw people’s attention to the disappearing rainforests

B．ask people to ease the protection of rainforests

C．attract the public to the newly-elected president

D．to complain about the new government's withdrawing

2. According to the passage, rainforests can ________.

A．produce much farmland

B．examine people’s lungs

C．change the earth’s living system

D．destroy farmers’ crops

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The new president’s supporters care less about farmers.

B．Scientists are concerned about the protection of rainforests.

C．The rainforests will stop the economic development in Brazil.

D．The past government is to blame for the destruction of rainforests

4. The passage is probably taken from ________.

A．a newspaper

B．a magazine

C．a guidebook

D．a textbook

7 . "What kind of rubbish are you?" This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it has become a special "greeting" among people over the past week. On July 1st, the city introduced strict trash-sorting regulations （条例〉that are required to follow and expected to be used as a model for our country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and toss （投放）it into specific public dustbins. They must do so at specified times, when monitors are present to ensure correct trash-tossing and to ask the nature of one's rubbish. Individuals who fail to follow the regulations face the possibility of fines and worse. They could be punished with fines of up to 200 yuan （ $ 29）. For those who repeat to go against them, the government can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to get bank loans or even buy train tickets.

Shanghai government is responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9 million tons of garbage a year, more than London's annual output, which is rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sift （筛选）through the waste, picking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up.

Many residents appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are annoyed by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or harmful, the distinctions among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules concerning food waste. They must put it straight in the required public bins, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss it by hand. What they complain most is the short periods for dropping trash, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out； no one wants to look bad.

1. What do we know about the trash-sorting regulations in Shanghai?

A．They are the first of their kind.	B．They are tied to one's bank account.
C．They have the highest fines.	D．They're aided by monitors.

2. Why has Shanghai introduced the trash-sorting regulations?

A．There are fewer and fewer trash pickers.

B．It aims to build a new recycling system.

C．It faces more and more serious garbage problems.

D．People throw the rubbish here and there.

3. What makes the residents upset most about the regulations?

A．Limited time for tossing the trash.

B．Confusing distinction among the categories of trash.

C．Being fined due to improper behavior.

D．Being watched by monitors when throwing the garbage.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．A Good Way of Trash-sorting

B．A New Era of Garbage Classification

C．A Great Time in Dealing with Litter

D．An Effective Solution to Rubbish Problem