At about 3:00 am on July 28, 1976, a destructive earthquake
1. 活动目的;
2. 活动内容(时间, 地点等);
3. 活动反响。
注意:
1. 写作词数应为80左右。
2. 请按照如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A Volunteer Activity Celebrating World Water Day
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 保护野生动物的重要性;
2. 提出合理建议(至少两点);
3. 发出呼吁。
注意:1. 词数80左右;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Protecting the Wild Animals
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . The cotton harvest is about to get underway in the Texas High Plains, the windswept region that grows most of the crop in the nation’s top cotton-producing state. But Barry Evans, a third-generation cotton grower, has already walked away from more than 2,000 acres (英亩) of his bone-dry fields. “It just didn’t come up. We hardly had anything,” said Evans.
Extreme heat and a lack of rainfall have severely damaged much of this year’s cotton harvest in the U.S., which produces about 35% of the world’s crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast that more than 40% of what U.S. farmers planted in the spring would be abandoned because of drought. Nowhere is this more apparent than the flat, dry stretch of Texas. The USDA says Texas cotton farmers are likely to abandon nearly 70% of their spring planting. That has been the worst harvest since 2009.
The region normally receives around 18 to 20 inches of rain per year, but saw less than three inches of rain from August through the summer, as nearly all of Texas baked under drought. Much of the cotton grown in the region needs rain. Even those with irrigated (灌溉的) fields are expecting low yields (产量) this year.
The losses in cotton could cost the Texas High Plains $1.2 billion after farmers receive federal (联邦的) crop insurance payments, estimates Darren Hudson, director of the International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech University. That leaves out others who depend on the crop, such as cotton gins (轧棉机) and storehouses. “Any time you have a bad year in cotton, it has a role to play in the overall economy,” Hudson said.
Fortunately, most cotton farmers in this part of Texas plan to use cotton seed varieties that can resist drought. Varieties are continuously developed and will be adjusted to generate high yields if dry conditions continue. “Even though it’s drought resistant,” Hudson added, “we still have to have a little bit of help from Mother Nature.”
1. What are the statistics in paragraph 2 mainly about?A.The impact of extreme weather on U.S. farmers. |
B.The world’s cotton distribution. |
C.USDA’s measures to address drought. |
D.The amount of U.S. cotton harvest in 2009. |
A.Texas is unfriendly to cotton farmers. | B.Cotton is vital to the American economy. |
C.Farmers depend much on Mother Nature. | D.Cotton gins are unaffected by cotton losses. |
A.Build effective irrigation systems. | B.Apply for federal crop insurance. |
C.Switch to growing a different crop. | D.Use further improved cotton seeds. |
A.Drought pushes cotton prices to a new high. | B.The world’s cotton supply keeps falling. |
C.Texas cotton takes a hit during drought. | D.Drought impacts the quality of cotton. |
Tibetan antelopes live on the plains of Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai. Watching them move slowly
Economic development is necessary if we want to improve society. There comes
By
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。
In recent years, the world
7 . Tropical (热带的) forests could become so hot that some kinds of leaves will no longer be able to conduct photosynthesis (光 合 作用), according to a study. The photosynthetic machinery in tropical trees begins to fail at about 46.7℃ on average. The research suggests that forests may be nearing dangerous temperature sooner than expected. Models predict that once we hit a global temperature increase of 3.9℃, these forests might experience mass leaf damage.
Chris Doughty, an associate professor at Northern Arizona University and the lead researcher of the study, said the leaf-warming experiments had revealed a nonlinear rise in temperatures. “We were really surprised that when we warmed leaves by 2, 3 or 4℃, the highest leaf temperatures actually increased by 8℃. This shows a concerning nonlinear feedback that we were not expecting.” said Doughty. “If we adopt a do-nothing response to climate change and tropical forest air temperatures increase by greater than 4℃, there could be massive leaf death.” he added.
Avoiding high emissions (排放) in the first place is key to stabilizing temperatures. “We should do all we can to avoid high-emissions. Under low-emissions, almost all tropical forest tree leaves can avoid death from overheating and the trees will survive,” said Simon Lewis, a professor of global change science at University College London. “Yet what the study doesn’t look at is heatwaves. We still might see tree deaths from overheating for limited periods during heatwaves under lower emissions.”
Researchers suggest that the damage is not yet unchanged. “Vote for people who are serious about addressing climate change and transferring to low-carbon economies, ”Disney, one researcher, advocated. More generally, we can all recognize the importance of supporting those countries and people who live in and rely on tropical forests economically, But the serious changes to tropical forests don’t just affect the local people it’s a global issue.
1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “nonlinear” in Paragraph 2?A.Global. | B.Dramatic. | C.Steady. | D.Minor. |
A.Planting more trees. | B.Exploring heatwaves. |
C.Conducting researches. | D.Pursuing low emissions. |
A.Promoting global efforts. |
B.Seeking economic support. |
C.Helping tropical countries. |
D.Boosting low-carbon education. |
A.Global warming harms trees. |
B.Tropical forests lose functions. |
C.Tropical leaves struggle in heat. |
D.Forests near dangerous temperature. |
8 . Many disaster-relief programs transport tons of supplies, such as food, water and heavy equipment, by road using large trucks. But some supplies may weigh just a few kilograms or less. For example, a package might contain a few doses of life-saving medicine.
The parachutes (降落伞) that carry these packages from planes are often made of nylon (尼龙). After one use, these parachutes are usually discarded. Because nylon is a polymer (聚合物), it does not decompose quickly. Therefore, Natalie looked for a greener alternative.
Nylon is strong, but a parachute used only once for light packages does not need to be that strong. Paper might be good enough, thought the teen. Plus, a paper parachute can be folded into a tiny package, just like a fabric parachute. Moreover, she notes there are many different ways to fold the unopened paper parachute.
Natalie came up with several folded designs and tested them. Her first models were small, so she could test them indoors. Two were triangular (三角形的). Two more were rectangular (长方形的). One of the rectangular ones opened most smoothly, she found. It also fell and landed most steadily as it dropped through the air. “Such features can be important when the goal is to deliver a package to the ground softly and accurately,” she says.
Natalie showcased her designs at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Natalie’s single-use paper parachutes are not harmful to the environment. They are also less expensive than parachutes made from more traditional materials. A nylon parachute of the same size as her design would cost about $31, she says. One made from silk, another common parachute fabric, would cost almost $16. But a parachute made from paper would likely cost less than $1, Natalie estimates.
1. Why are many relief supplies mentioned in the first paragraph?A.To list an example. | B.To answer a question. | C.To lead in the topic. | D.To make a comparison. |
A.Go bad. | B.Break down. | C.Run away. | D.Bend down. |
A.A small one. | B.A big one. | C.A rectangular one. | D.A triangular one. |
A.Reducing Environmental Impact with Paper Parachutes |
B.Eco-friendly Paper Parachutes for Disaster Relief |
C.The High Cost of Traditional Parachutes |
D.A Teen’s Quest for Better Disaster Relief |
We as individuals can also reduce our “carbon footprint” by
10 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource. org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, meal-worms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that meal-worms can digest plastic. One meal-worm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠) . The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space-is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?A.It can be used to cool drinks. | B.It is a weightless material. |
C.It is harmful when recycled. | D.It is usually used on ships. |
A.Meal-worms have amazing digesting power. | B.Meal-worms are not bad in their nature. |
C.Meal-worms can rescue people’s lives. | D.People misunderstood meal-worms in the past. |
A.by raising amounts of meal-worms | B.by environmental engineering instructors |
C.using a method inspired by eating meal-worms | D.without sending out dangerous pollution |
A.Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. | B.Meal-worms are genius at eating plastic |
C.Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. | D.Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide |