1 . Pollution is a disaster for the soil. When chemicals go into the ground, they slowly reduce the fertility of the soil and make it unsuitable for farming. They may also change the structure of the soil , which gets more easily destroyed by water and air.
For ordinary consumers, the influence of soil pollution can be felt most strongly in the supermarket. Exposure( 暴 露 ) to soil pollution can pollute foods grown in the field, harming people’s health.
One example of this is the “ poisonous rice event” that surfaced in 2013. Some rice from Hunan province was found to contain higher levels of cadmium(镉), a kind of metal likely to cause cancer, because Hunan has some of the worst soil pollution in China, according to CBC News. All the samples collected from this area were heavily polluted by cadmium. Sometimes, the cadmium level is 20 times higher than the national standard.
According to scientists, high levels of cadmium have been linked to organ( 器官) failure,weakening of bones and cancer. “ Cadmium is likely to store up in the kidney and liver,” Chen Nengchang, a scholar at the Guangdong Institute of Eco-environment and Soil Sciences, told The New York Times. “ When the amount reaches a certain point, it will cause a serious health risk for the organs.”
Unfortunately, fixing the problem was not as simple as destroying a few piles of rice. Since the outer covering of rice are often used to feed farm animals, the meat we eat and the milk we drink may both be at risk.
Luckily both the government and Chinese consumers have becomes more and more aware of this kind of pollutions, and aim to fight the situation with combined effort. There are many things we, as individual, can do to help. Eating organic foods are one of them.
Organic food is not only better for our health but also for our environment, especially the soil. To grow organic food, farmers stop using all artificial chemicals------including fertilizers, and pesticides. This production method does not cause any risk of soil pollution, unlike traditional farming, which uses tons of artificial chemicals. By consuming organic foods, we support healthier soil.
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the influence of soil pollution?| A．The production of the crops will decrease greatly. |
| B．The soil will be poor in quality and improper for farming. |
| C．The foods grown in the polluted field harm people’s health. |
| D．The soil will become more easily destroyed by water and air. |
| A．It caused cancer or death. |
| B．Some contained more vitamins. |
| C．It was reported as an advertisement. |
| D．Some had higher levels of cadmium. |
| A．the polluted soil | B．the failing organ | C．the poisonous rice | D．the sick farm animals. |
| A．The government has realized the importance of it. |
| B．It is good for both our health and the environment. |
| C．Its production method is easier than the traditional one. |
| D．Farmers used fewer fertilizers and pesticides when growing it. |
2 . Growing up, I was always totally in love with fashion. I’m the type of girl who follows Fashion Weck trends and spends much money on clothes. And while I have dreamed about building a career in fashion, I’m well aware that it’s not easy to make a name for yourself in the field. Despite this, I decided against studying medicine to follow my dream and went to West Virginia University for Fashion Design.
When I got a part-time job at Girl’s Lift last summer holiday. I was excited to be able to write articles for the website, sit in on editorial meetings and help pick the cover for the August/ September issue. But when GL editor-in-chief Karen asked if anyone wanted to help out in the fashion room for all the clothes, accessories, shoes and beauty products used for shoots(拍 摄). I jumped at the opportunity. After spending so much time with the clothes, I knew I just had to go on site for the shoot. My parents always told me to speak up when I want something, so I gathered up the courage to ask Karen if I could help out on the shoot. Not only did she say yes, but she told me that I could help out at another the following week.
The next day, when the photographer asked me to help him test the lightning for a few shoots, I was super excited. When one of the two models didn’t show up, I was asked to step in for her. Before I knew it, I was sitting in hair and makeup, being fitted for my clothes for the rest of my life. Never in a million years did I think I would be in a magazine. Let alone on four pages of a major fashion magazine. I am really grateful for this opportunity, but it would never have happened if I didn’t speak up and ask to be a part of it.
1. The writer’s dream is to ________.| A．become a model for Fashion Week | B．take up a job in fashion |
| C．study in West Virginal University | D．be an expert on medicine |
| A．problem | B．subject | C．magazine | D．newspaper |
| A．her parents | B．the models | C．the photographer | D．Karen |
| A．It’s amazing to appear in a fashion magazine. |
| B．It’s not easy to become famous in one’s career. |
| C．Speak up for what you want and you will get it soon. |
| D．Stick to your dream and try everything you can for it. |
3 . Most people think of zoos as safe places for animals, where struggles such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators don’t exist. Without such problems, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age.
But that may not be true for the largest land animals on Earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often suffer from poor health. They develop diseases, joint problems and behavior changes. Sometimes, they even become unable to have babies.
To learn more about how captivity (监禁) affects elephants, a team of international scientists compared the life spans of female elephants born in zoos with female elephants living outdoors in their native lands. Zoos keep detailed records of all the animals in their care, documenting factors such as birth dates, illnesses, weight and death. These records made it possible for the researchers to analyze 40 years of data on 800 African and Asian elephants in zoos across Europe. The scientists compared the life spans of the zoo-born elephants with the life spans of thousands of female wild elephants in Africa and Asian elephants that work in logging camps (伐木场), over approximately the same time period.
The team found that female African elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years. Their wild counterparts who died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years — more than three times as long. Female Asian elephants followed a similar pattern. In zoos, they lived 18.9 years, while those in the logging camps lived 41.7 years.
Scientists don’t yet know why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts. Georgia Mason, a biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada who led the study, think stress and obesity (肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don’t get the same kind of exercise they would in the wild, and most are very fat. Elephant social lives are also much more different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large herds and family groups.
Another finding from the study showed that Asian elephants born in zoos were more likely to die early than Asian elephants captured in the wild and brought to zoos. Mason suggests stress in the mothers in zoos might cause them to have babies that are less likely to survive.
The study raises some questions about acquiring more elephants to keep in zoos. While some threatened and endangered species living in zoos reproduce successfully and maintain healthy populations, that doesn’t appear to be the case with elephants.
1. According to the first two paragraphs unlike other zoo animals, zoo elephants ________.| A．have difficulty eating food. | B．live to a ripe old age. |
| C．are not afraid of predators. | D．develop health problems. |
| A．They compared zoo elephants with wild elephants. |
| B．Zoos kept detailed records of all the elephants in the wild. |
| C．They analyzed the records of the elephants kept in zoos. |
| D．The zoo-born elephants they studied are kept in European zoos. |
| A．Female elephants live longer than male elephants. |
| B．Female zoo elephants live longer than their wild counterparts. |
| C．Female zoo elephants die much earlier than their wild counterparts. |
| D．Elephants in zoos and those in the wild enjoy the same long life spans. |
| A．It may not be a wise policy to keep elephants in the zoo. |
| B．Elephants are no longer an endangered species. |
| C．Zoo-born elephants should be looked after more carefully. |
| D．Zoos should keep more animals except elephants. |
