“The goal is that every 300 metres if you open a window, you
With its mild weather, teahouses, quiet leafy streets and
To deal with that
2 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.
Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.
“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).
Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.
Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.
1. What do solar developers often ignore?| A．The decline in the demand for solar energy. |
| B．The negative impact of installing solar panels. |
| C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms. |
| D．The most recent advances in solar technology. |
| A．Improve the productivity of local farms. |
| B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds. |
| C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly. |
| D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas. |
| A．To conserve pollinators. | B．To restrict solar development. |
| C．To diversify the economy. | D．To ensure the supply of energy. |
| A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay | B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future |
| C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture | D．Solar Farms: A New Development |
Vertical gardening isn’t new, but an example from India shows how this inventive technique is
The Mehra family from Amritsar were locally hot news last June when they showed off the vertical garden
The idea caught on quickly. Many local schools now have green vertical gardens on their walls,
4 . The loss of natural land isn’t just a problem for the Amazon or the rainforests of Southeast Asia. The United States is losing its forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts at a truly startling pace.
Between 2001 and 2017, some 97,124 square kilometers of natural land-around the size of Indiana-were destroyed in the US to make way for roads, industry, farms, and other signs of human civilization. That’s equal to a football field-sized piece of land being lost every 30 seconds. Some of the most serious losses have been experienced in the South and Midwest, where human development took over 47 percent and 59 percent of all land area, respectively, in the 16 years studied.
These findings come from a report published by The Center for American Progress Using available satellite data and open-source databases, they calculated the rate of loss of natural lands and its relationship to oil and gas extraction（开采）, road construction, urban development, agriculture, and other human-related activities. If national trends continue, a South Dakota-sized expanse of forests, wetlands, and wild places in the continental United States will disappear by 2050.
Now only 12 percent of the country’s land area has been conserved as national parks, wilderness areas, national monuments, or other protected areas, while 26 percent of ocean area is safeguarded from oil and gas extraction. According to this report, it’s now time to extend this level of protection even further. Keeping in line with present scientific recommendations, they conclude that the US should aim to protect at least 30 percent of lands and oceans in a natural state by 2030.
However, it isn’t all about desperation. The authors conclude on a remarkably optimistic note（well, relatively optimistic for an environmental report, at least）. “The United States is entering new times when it will rely more than ever on the integrity（完整）and stability of the natural world to provide economic boom, safeguard the health of communities, and weather（平安渡过）the effects of a changing climate,” they write.
1. What does the underlined word “startling” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Slow. | B．Steady. | C．Fixed. | D．Astonishing. |
| A．The authors’ own experience. |
| B．The history of human civilization. |
| C．Satellite data and open-source databases. |
| D．Comparison of America’s past and present natural land. |
| A．To protect all America’s forests and wetlands. |
| B．To protect at least 30% of America’s lands and oceans. |
| C．To protect 12 percent of America’s land area. |
| D．To protect 26 percent of America’s ocean area. |
| A．To appeal to people to protect forest and natural land. |
| B．To present the problems faced by the Amazon. |
| C．To state the necessity of building national parks. |
| D．To criticize some practices of the US government. |
5 . The situation of the world’s plants is not good. One fifth of the kinds of plants are in danger of disappearing, according to a report.
“Plants are very vital to human beings,” said Kathy Willis, who led the new report. “Plants provide us with everything—food, fuel, and medicine, and they are very important for our climate controlling. Without plants we would not be here.”
The good news is that deforestation rates around the world have dropped largely since the 1950s. However, this report on the health of plants around the world shows that there is much more to be done.
The report predicts that there are now 390,900 kinds of plants. And about 21 percent of those plants are in danger of disappearing. “The good side is that we’re still discovering lots of new plants, about 2,000 each year,” said Dr. Willis. “The bad side is that we’ve seen a huge change in land cover, mainly caused by cultural activity, with a little bit of climate change in there as well.”
Human activity has a great effect on the danger of plants disappearing. As humans cut down forests to make room for agriculture, towns and cities, biodiversity is lost. This could not only affect our own food supply directly, but also affect the food web.
1. What does the underlined word “vital” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Useless. | B．Friendly. | C．Equal. | D．Important. |
| A．New plants are more than ever before. | B．About half the plants will disappear soon. |
| C．Many new plants are found every year. | D．Plants mustn’t be used to produce medicine. |
| A．We have made little progress. | B．There is a long way for us to go. |
| C．We have achieved our goal. | D．There will be nothing we can do. |
| A．Biodiversity Being Lost | B．Human Social Activity |
| C．Environment Protection | D．Nature Climate Change |
