—______.
A.Never mind | B.Go ahead | C.It’s hard to say | D.It’s up to you |
A.Having devoted | B.Devoted | C.To be devoted | D.Being devoted |
— .
A.That’s all right | B.With pleasure |
C.My pleasure | D.Don’t hurry |
4 . a little extra light throughout the day may do more than just lift your spirits.
A.Letting in | B.Taking up | C.Sending out | D.Putting aside |
5 . The disease that is going around is thought in the southwest.
A.to have originated | B.to originate |
C.to have been originated | D.to be originated |
6 . Conservationists go to war over whether humans are the measure of nature’s value. New Conservationists argue such trade-offs are necessary in this human dominated epoch. And they support “re-wilding”, a concept originally proposed by Soule where people curtail economic growth and withdraw from landscapes, which then return to nature.
New Conservationists believe the withdrawal could happen together with economic growth. The California-based Breakthrough Institute believes in a future where most people live in cities and rely less on natural resources for economic growth.
They would get food from industrial agriculture, including genetically modified foods, desalination intensified meat production and aquaculture, all of which have a smaller land footprint. And they would get their energy from renewables and natural gas.
Driving these profound shifts would be greater efficiency of production, where more products could be manufactured from fewer inputs. And some unsustainable commodities would be replaced in the market by other, greener ones — natural gas for coal, for instance, explained Michael Heisenberg, president of the Breakthrough Institute. Nature would, in essence, be decoupled from the economy.
And then he added a caveat: We are not suggesting decoupling as the paradigm to save the world, or that it solves all the problems or eliminates all the trade-offs.
Cynics (悲观者) may say all this sounds too utopian, but Breakthrough maintains the world is already on this path toward decoupling. Nowhere is this more evident than in the United Sates, according to Iddo Wernick, a research scholar at the Rockefeller University, who has examined the nation’s use of 100 main commodities.
Wenick and his colleagues looked at data carefully from the U.S. Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center, which keeps a record of commodities used from 1900 through the present day. They found that the use of 36 commodities (sand, iron ore, cotton etc.) in the U. S. Economy had peaked.
Another 53 commodities (nitrogen, timber, beef, etc.) are being used more efficiently per dollar value of gross domestic product than in the pre-1970s era. Their use would peak soon, Wernick said.
Only 11 commodities (industrial diamond, indium, chicken, etc.) are increasing in use (Greenwire, Nov.6), and most of these are employed by industries in small quantities to improve systems processes. Chicken use is rising because people are eating less beef, a desirable development since poultry cultivation has a smaller environmental footprint.
The numbers show the United States has not intensified resource consumption since the 1970s even while increasing its GDP and population, said Jesse Ausubel of the Rockefeller University.
“It seems like the 20th-century expectation we had, we were always assuming the future entailed greater consumption of resources,” Ausubel said. “But what we are seeing in the developed countries is, of course, peaks.”
1. What does the underlined word “trade-offs” refer to in the first paragraph?A.The balance between human development and natural ecology. |
B.The profitability of import and export trade. |
C.The consumption of natural resources by industrial development. |
D.The difficult plight of economies growth. |
A.They believe that mankind should live in forests with rich vegetation. |
B.They believe that mankind will need more natural resources in the future. |
C.They believe that mankind is the master of the whole universe. |
D.They believe that mankind should limit economic growth. |
A.Natural resources cannot support economic development. |
B.More resource consumption will not occur in a certain period of time. |
C.Excessive resource consumption will not affect the ecological environment. |
D.All resource consumption in developed countries has reached a peak. |
A.Urbanization and re-wildness. |
B.Human existence and industrial development. |
C.Socioeconomic development and resource consumption. |
D.Commodity trading and raw material development. |
A.whatever | B.whenever | C.wherever | D.however |
8 . My name is Nasilele and I am from Zambia. I’ve been working as a UN Peacekeeper in the Central African Republic for the past two years. Before this, I was a pilot in my country’s army and I enjoyed my work a lot. However, Zambia is a very peaceful country and I was aware that there are other countries in Africa, where there has been a lot of violent conflicts. I felt it was my duty to help innocent people who are caught in the middle of these conflicts, so I signed up with the United Nations.
The Central African Republic is a relatively small country of five million people. Since it got independence from France in the 1950s, there have been many violent conflicts between the government and rebels (反叛者) who do not want the leaders in power. Often the army has been in conflict with leaders, which has led to many problems. In 2012, a civil war began. Conflicts between different religions and ethnic groups (种族) were the main causes. Due to this civil war, over one million people were forced to flee their homes and there were many deaths and injuries. In response to this, in 2014, the United Nations established a peacekeeping mission in the country.
My fellow peacekeepers are from many different countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Rwanda and others. This is a good thing as it ensures that there are many different cultures and backgrounds all working towards the same goals. Our roles vary with many different tasks from one day to the next. We monitor cities and villages to ensure that no conflict is occurring, help bring supplies of food and medicine to those who need it and write reports on everything we do and see. Our role never involves violence against others. We are a barrier that can keep people in conflict apart.
As a woman, I am particularly valued by the United Nations Peacekeepers as I can act as a role model for many women and girls in the country. When they see my role and how others respect me, I hope they feel that they also deserve to be respected and treated equally to men.
My life is not glamorous (富有魅力的) in any way! It’s long hours in a very tough environment. I have basic accommodation with just a bed in a shared room and a small kitchen and bathroom. Of course, being away from my family and friends is also very hard at times. However, I know that the Central African Republic is safer because of the UN Peacekeepers, and that makes it all worthwhile.
1. What motivated the author to be a peacekeeper?A.Helping ordinary people in ethnic conflicts. |
B.Being a pilot in the United Nations Army. |
C.Living in the Central African Republic. |
D.Preventing racial conflicts. |
A.It did not gain independence until the mid-19th century. |
B.The mission of the peacekeeping force there is to end the civil war. |
C.The UN has sent peacekeepers to the country since its independence. |
D.More than one in five people were made homeless during the civil war. |
A.Peacekeeping forces must ensure local cultural diversity (多样性). |
B.Peacekeepers have many different jobs to do every day. |
C.Peacekeepers are not required to record their daily work. |
D.The job of the peacekeepers is to monitor the behavior of the local people. |
A.Because she is a unique woman. |
B.Because women are desperately needed in peacekeeping forces. |
C.Because she can be a role model for local women. |
D.Because she’s a respectable woman. |
A.Puzzled. | B.Interesting. | C.Frightened. | D.Helpful. |
A.that | B.where | C.which | D.whose |
A.will be teaching | B.have taught | C.have been teaching | D.were teaching |