1 . Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases that you produce as you live your life. In order to hold the global temperature rise to 2˚C or less, everyone needs to average an annual carbon footprint of 1.87 tons by 2050.
Eat low on the food chain. This means eating mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans. Meat and dairy is responsible for 14.5 percent of man-made global greenhouse gas emissions.
Use low energy appliances. Replace traditional light bulbs with LED ones. Though LEDs cost more, they use a quarter of the energy and last up to 25 times longer. Make energy efficiency a primary consideration when choosing a new microwave, air conditioning unit, dishwasher, or refrigerator.
Choose green travel. An average car produces about five tons of carbon each year.
| A．Don’t buy fast fashion. |
| B．Never choose quality clothing. |
| C．But people ignore this serious problem. |
| D．Making changes in transport matters much. |
| E．Here are ways to reduce your carbon footprint. |
| F．They are mainly from food production and processing. |
| G．Products with the ENERGY STAR sign have better efficiency. |
2 . Three paralysed (瘫痪的) men, who were told they would spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair, are able to walk again, thanks to an electrical device, which was placed around the men’s spines (脊柱) and boosted signals from their brains to their legs.
The first patient to be treated was 30-year-old Swiss man David M’zee, who suffered a severe spinal injury several years ago in a sporting accident. David’s doctor said he would never walk again. However, thanks to the electrical device developed by a team at a public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, he agreed to take part in a trial led by Dr. Courtine at the university.
“I came with my daughter, Charlotte, who was one month old at the time. As we approached David, he looked her in the eye and said, ‘I will walk before you,’” Dr Courtine recalls. “When Charlotte took her first step she was 14 months old, by which time David was walking by Lake Geneva. He said to her, ‘I have beaten you.’”
David can now walk up to eight paces when the device is switched off and this is the first time that this has been recorded in a chronic (慢性的) spinal injury. However, out of the lab, in the real world, it is hard for David to walk more than a few paces. The signals from the device soon become uncomfortable and so can’t be used all the time. The system is also expensive and not reliable enough to be used out of the laboratory for day-to-day use, so it’s far from a cure.
David is the first of three patients who have benefited from the first wave of the treatment. Two other men have also managed to walk again, to various degrees.
The researchers plan to begin larger trials in Europe and the US in the next few years. If these go well, the researchers are confident the system could become more widely available.
1. How does the electrical device help the paralysed walk again?| A．By straightening the spines. | B．By making the brains recover. |
| C．By signaling the legs to move. | D．By making use of a wheelchair. |
| A．To point out David’s weakness. | B．To explain David’s failure to walk. |
| C．To show the speed of David’s recovery. | D．To prove his daughter’s athletic ability. |
| A．It is hard for typical patients to operate. | B．It is unreliable when used out of the lab. |
| C．It always makes patients uncomfortable. | D．It sometimes sends wrong signals to legs. |
| A．The device can cure paralysis. | B．The device has been widely used. |
| C．The device will be tested globally. | D．The device has a potential market. |
3 . Have you ever observed how a family runs smoothly? It’s the balance that plays a role in a family. But a family where there is too much chaos (混乱), argument, and one-sided communication has no balance. As a result, such a chaotic family suffers consequences like divorced parents, distances between children.
In the same way, nature needs balance, harmony and protection. You are already aware of the phrase — too much of everything is bad. That’s why the sensibility to bring balance in nature is every human’s responsibility.
The community of living species interacts with the environment’s non-living components in a healthy ecosystem. Rainfall, temperature, sunlight, soil, and water chemistry are the main examples of abiotic (无生命的) aspects of ecosystems that need to be in a stable manner.
To survive, plants need a certain combination of temperature, moisture, and soil chemistry. Protecting plants is also important because it provides food for the animals.What you see above are the natural phenomena that have been happening since the beginning of the universe. That’s how nature has been functioning. But indulgent human activities in using natural resources has created poor habitation in the natural environment. In fact, here are the human actions that have broken the balance in nature for so many years now.
People cut down trees to make space for new companies owing to an increase in population, which has decreased the amount of oxygen in the air. Global warming has resulted in the melting of the ice caps, leading to rising sea levels and other natural disasters like cyclones and tsunamis. As a result of habitat loss, it is getting harder for species to survive.To bring the Earth to its original form is impossible. But there is always a potential for bringing awareness. Hence, if the above human activities are lessened or changed with recycling activities, the next generation can still live a healthy life.
1. Why is a chaotic family mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To bring up a new topic. |
| B．To come to a conclusion. |
| C．To complain about family chaos. |
| D．To admire the balance of a family. |
| A．Limit human activities to the fullest. |
| B．Control a certain amount of everything. |
| C．Don’t cut down trees for new companies. |
| D．Don’t use energy for economic development. |
| A．Responsible. | B．Controlled. | C．Romantic. | D．Unlimited. |
| A．Worried. | B．Doubtful. | C．Confident. | D．Uncertain. |
4 . If you ask children the question, “Where does your food come from?” Their answer probably is “the kitchen” or “the grocery store”. Mahan Chandra Borah, a 41-year-old rice farmer, was concerned about this and aimed to educate young people about the importance of agriculture in his country.
“Hundreds of varieties of rice and other crops went extinct in India because of people’s unawareness and I wanted to do something about it,” Mahan says. The result was the formation of the Annapurna Rice Library — a center preserving native seeds and all things ‘rice’.
As a boy, Mahan was a curious reader. “I always had curiosity about things and wanted to get a PhD,” he recalls. Most of Mahan’s days were spent reading and helping his father out in the fields. “Working with him in the fields is how I learnt all I know about farming,” he says.
“Our family was humble. While I wanted to study more, the money was an issue,” he adds. Things became even harder when Mahan’s father passed away. “I was completing my graduation and was heartbroken. However, I also had to look after my family. Studying further was out of the question, so I decided to do agriculture like my father for a living,” he says.
Mahan could have decided to go for traditional farming, but instead, he decided to research alongside. “I went online to look for papers on farming and seed saving. For the library, I have 500 types of seeds preserved there,” he says. Mahan says his favorite rice variety is Bhao Dhan. It is very tough in nature and can adapt easily to the flood-prone (易发洪水的) nature of Assam. However, the lower yield (产量) per hectare has been the reason why the farmers do not prefer to grow the rice.
For the last 15 years, Mahan has operated his library on his own funds. “I run my household and maintain the library. Lack of funds has become an issue, but I am managing somehow and I am sure I will overcome the difficulties and keep it alive,” he says.
1. What inspired Mahan to set up the Annapurna Rice Library?| A．The expectation from his father. |
| B．The lack of grain varieties in India. |
| C．The great demand for more native seeds. |
| D．The public ignorance of rice seed protection. |
| A．He came from a family rich enough. |
| B．He graduated from college with a PhD. |
| C．He dreamed to be an agricultural expert. |
| D．He learned about farming from his father. |
| A．Its delicious taste. |
| B．Its high production. |
| C．Its growing popularity. |
| D．Its good adaptive ability. |
| A．Devoted and determined. | B．Generous and easygoing. |
| C．Courageous and humorous. | D．Sensitive and open-minded. |
5 . Upper Antelope Canyon Tours
Adventurous Antelope Canyon TourPrice: From $108
Duration: 80 minutes
The tour starts at $108 per person, but cost an additional $11 if you want to visit during peak sunlight hours. Those 7 and younger are not permitted on the outings. This tour is not recommended for pregnant people.
Antelope Canyon Navajo TourPrice: From $100
Duration: 1.5 hours
This Tour’ guides are local Navajo people. The company’s 1.5-hour sightseer tours of the Upper Canyon take place several times daily beginning at 7:30 a.m. Prices for these tours, which include the park entrance fee, are approximately $100 per person. The company opens up online reservations one to two months in advance, so be sure to book early, as tickets sell out quickly.
Antelope Slot Canyon TourPrice: Adults from $112; kids from $102
Duration: 1.5 hours
This Tour offers tours of the nearby Cathedral Canyon. Pricing ranges from $112 to $120 per person, depending on the time of day and popularity of the tour time. Discounted tickets are available for soldiers and children aged 6 to 12; children younger than 6 are not allowed.
Antelope Canyon X Taadidiin TourPrice: Adults from $40; kids from $30
Duration: 1.5 hours
This Tour operates 1.5-hour small-group hikes through the canyon. A Hiking permit is required for visitors aged 8 and older. Photography lovers can sign up for Taadidiin’s Photo Tour, which spends three hours in the canyon and permits participants to bring a tripod and a camera bag. Additional fees are $125 per person.
1. What are you required to do if you want to make Antelope Canyon Navajo Tour?| A．Pay much more money. | B．Drive your own car. |
| C．Book tickets beforehand. | D．Carry your hiking permit. |
| A．Antelope Canyon Navajo Tour. | B．Antelope Slot Canyon Tour. |
| C．Antelope Canyon X Taadidiin Tour. | D．Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tour. |
| A．$165. | B．$ 40. | C．$ 85. | D．$125. |
6 . Filming in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest
The Kamas Ranger District handles film permits for the Kamas district of the Wasatch- Cache National Forest.
To ensure that permits are issued in time for filming, the Forest Service requests that application form be handed in three to four weeks prior to filming.
The fee structure for filming in the National Forest is as follows:
Filming Special Use Fee1 to 10 people-$150 per day
11 to 30 people-$200 per day
31 to 60 people-$500 per day
Over 61 people-$600 per day
Film Monitoring Fee
1 day filming-FREE
Extra days-$200 per day
Additional FeesAdditional fees will be charged in the following situations:
Large production (greater than 100 people), multiple site filming that may require additional film monitoring to protect natural resources and a performance agreement in the form of a deposited check.
Upon approval, a Special Use Permit will be issued with a bill for collection. Checks should be made payable to “USDA Forest Service, ” and payment must be received before filming.
NoteSome areas of the forest are especially sensitive to impacts from vehicles, domestic animals, and people. These areas include wetlands, streams, lake shorelines, and most meadow areas. Filming requests in these sensitive areas will require special surveys to determine possible environmental impacts. The request may be denied.
1. What is one expected to do for filming?| A．Issue the permit weeks before filming. | B．Submit the application form in advance. |
| C．Give top priority to time arrangement. | D．Outline the fee structure in the forest. |
| A．$1200. | B．$200. | C．$1400. | D．$600. |
| A．Paying the bill in cash. | B．Entry into the sensitive areas. |
| C．Production with over 61 people. | D．Filming in different sites. |
7 . Born in Congo, Dieuveil grew up in Germany and began his career in some of Europe’s best establishments. He opened his restaurant Meza Malonga in 2020, where dinner is not just a meal but also a tour of the African continent. Delicately plated dishes feature the Nile perch from Uganda, Algerian olive oil, and Penja pepper from Cameroon. By combining ingredients and food cultures from different countries in Africa with some modern elements, Dieuveil has created his own cuisine that represents not only the heritage and traditions of a vast and varied, continent but also the latest trends. Undoubtedly, such integration has received international applause.
However, Dieuveil’s ambitions are not just for himself. After setting up the digital platform “Chefs in Africa”, which to date has connected over 4,000 professional chefs to career opportunities and the skill development, Dieuveil created a training school to produce the next generation of cooking pioneers. He is on a mission to lay the foundations of an innovative fine-dining scene on the African continent that can compare with Europe’s — but in a distinctive, African way.
When it comes to the understanding of fine dining, different from Europe’s emphasis on exclusivity and competitiveness, Dieuveil focuses more on integration. “If you want to go far, you must share with people,” he says. And his Afro-fusion cuisine has been shaped by this philosophy of sharing. To better understand the diverse traditions, dishes and ingredients of Africa, he went into villages and met with the grandmothers, as they’re usually the masters of amazing, old techniques. These villagers shared their local cuisine and family recipes, teaching Dieuveil regional fermentation (发酵) and preservation processes.
To ensure the quality of fresh produce, Dieuveil sources all his vegetables from his three-hectare organic farm in northern Rwanda, where he continues his “food revolution” by establishing the connection with remote and underserved communities, and involving more students coming from countries across Africa. He said, “Africa is the garden of the world and has an amazing diversity of food. What is happening now with African cuisine and the exposure we are getting are clear indications that our food revolution is already here.”
1. What makes Dieuveil’s cuisine a success?| A．The fascinating mix of the old and the new. |
| B．The use of imported ingredients and cookers. |
| C．The balance of international and local flavors. |
| D．The fine dining environment and table setting. |
| A．To share his philosophy. |
| B．To publicize his organic food. |
| C．To draw inspiration for his dishes. |
| D．To seek excellent cooks for his restaurant. |
| A．Amazed. | B．Satisfied. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Ambitious and decent. | B．Generous and responsible. |
| C．Talented and humorous. | D．Creative and determined. |
8 . In early October, Travis Gienger transported an enormous pumpkin (南瓜) from his home in Minnesota to the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California. His pumpkin set the record for the biggest one ever grown in North America. How do competitive growers get their pumpkins to grow to massive sizes?
Gienger, who teaches horticulture (园艺学) at Anoka Technical College, begins growing his pumpkins in mid-April, starting with seeds that he grows indoors for the first few weeks, when Minnesota’s soil is too frosty.
Depending on the variety, pumpkin plants can grow up to a dozen fruits on a single vine (藤曼) . But to maximize size, growers remove all but one or two of these pumpkins in order to decrease each individual fruit’s competition for resources.
But what exactly happens inside a pumpkin as it grows? Two factors drive natural growth: cell division and cell expansion. Cell division accounts for most of the growth at the beginning of a fruit’s life. This period lasts for about 20 days in pumpkin plants.
| A．Biology has the answers. |
| B．Genetics also influences pumpkin growth. |
| C．The following tips will give you a head start. |
| D．Once it warms up, the plants are transferred outside. |
| E．When it stops, cell expansion will then come into play. |
| F．Growers extend the growth period for as long as possible. |
| G．Growers also remove the weeds in the area for the same reason. |
9 . Sustainability was a hot topic at the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event for the aviation industry, which faces increasing pressure to reduce the climate-changing greenhouse gases that aircraft emit. Even the massive orders at the show got an emission-reduction perspective: Airlines and producers said the new planes would be more fuel-efficient than the ones they replaced. However, most of those planes will burn conventional kerosene-based jet fuel.
Some companies are working on electric-powered aircraft, which are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of the aviation industry, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. However, they are still some way off from widespread commercial use. That means sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has become the industry’s best hope of achieving its promise of net zero emissions by 2050. SAF, however, accounts for just 0.1% of all jet fuel. Made from sources like used cooking oil and plant waste, SAF can be mixed with conventional jet fuel but costs much more.
With such a limited supply of SAF, critics say airlines are making overly ambitious promises and exaggerating how quickly they can ramp up the use of SAF. The industry even has skeptics: Nearly one-third of aviation sustainability officers in a GE Aerospace survey doubt whether the industry will hit its net zero goal by 2050.
Across the Atlantic, a consumer group called BEUC filed a complaint against the European Union’s executive arm, accusing 17 airlines of greenwashing. The group says airlines are misleading consumers and breaking rules on commercial practices by encouraging customers to pay extra to help finance the development of SAF and offset future carbon emissions created by flying. In one case, the group’s researchers found Air France charging up to 138 euros for the green option.
“SAF is indeed the biggest technological potential to decarbonize the aviation sector, but the main problem is that it isn’t available. We know that before the end of the next decade — at least — it won’t be available in massive quantities,” said Dimitri Vergnc, a senior policy officer at BEUC.
1. What did airlines and producers emphasize at the Paris Air Show?| A．Ways of reducing fuel consumption. |
| B．Improvement in planes’ safety performance. |
| C．Environmental friendliness of their new planes. |
| D．Efficiency of conventional kerosene-based jet fuel. |
| A．To stress the necessity of developing SAF. |
| B．To highlight the future of the aviation industry. |
| C．To show efforts made to achieve net zero emissions. |
| D．To explain their advantages over traditional aircraft. |
| A．Stop. | B．Limit. | C．Balance. | D．Increase. |
| A．An airline ad. | B．A study result. | C．A news report. | D．A science paper. |
10 . Four surprising ways algae (藻类) are driving innovation
Algae can be a double-edged sword. Increased human activity and climate change have caused explosions of algae populations in water bodies around the world sometimes choking entire ecosystems of sunlight and oxygen. Even though they are so closely associated with humanity’s negative impact on Earth, algae could also play key roles in helping fight pollution, viruses, and more.
Filtering (过滤) water.
With microplastic pollution documented in almost all water bodies, a recent study shows that through absorption, algae can help filter microplastics out of water.
Fueling air travel.
Fighting viruses.
Red algae can prevent the replication (复制) of some viruses, including COVID-19, according to a 2020 study.
In 2019, freshwater algae were launched into space to turn the carbon dioxide exhaled (呼出) by astronauts on the International Space Station into oxygen. Since algae are also high in protein, they could replace up to 30 percent of astronaut food in the future.
| A．Making space food more nutritious. |
| B．Making long-term space travel possible. |
| C．These are several ways algae are solving modern problems. |
| D．Some algae can also filter chemicals that can be used in fertilizers. |
| E．Brown algae have been shown to stimulate the body’s immune system. |
| F．Algae can produce more effective biofuels than traditional sources like soybeans. |
| G．It aims to harvest algae for energy while keeping the environment pollution-free. |
