1 . Greenhouse-gas emissions have produced the planet more than 1°C (1.8°F) warmer than it was in the pre-industrial days. Its atmosphere is producing heavy weather in ways both predicted and surprising. And, with emissions continuing, it will get worse.
Unfortunately, 2021 will probably be one of the 21st century’s coolest years. If temperatures rise by 3°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming decades — as they might even if everyone manages to honour today’s firm promises — large parts of the tropics risk becoming too hot for outdoor work. Coral reefs and the livelihood that depend on them will disappear and the Amazon rainforest will become a ghost of itself. Severe harvest failures will be commonplace. Ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland will shrink (缩小) past the point of no return, promising sea rises measured not in millimetres, as today’s are, but in metres.
Six years ago, in Paris, the countries of the world committed themselves to avoiding the worst of that nightmare by removing greenhouse-gas emissions quickly enough to hold the temperature rise below 2°C. Their progress towards that end remains seriously inadequate. Yet even if their efforts increased dramatically enough to meet the 2°C goal, it would not stop forests from burning today; prairies (草原) would still dry out tomorrow, rivers break their banks and mountain glaciers disappear.
Cutting emissions is thus not enough. The world also urgently needs to invest in adapting to the changing climate. The good news is that adaptation makes political sense. People can clearly see the need for it. When a country invests in flood defenses, it benefits its own citizens above all others — there is no free-rider problem, as there could be for emissions reduction. So All the governments should make a broader move to increase investment in adaptation. More such efforts are vital.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．The weather will become better in the future. |
| B．The earth in the pre-industrial days was warmer. |
| C．Bad weather is often caused by greenhouse gases. |
| D．The appearance of bad weather is always expected. |
| A．Crops will fail a little now and a little then. |
| B．The melting ice will cause a sharp rise in sea level. |
| C．People can still make a living by relying on coral reefs. |
| D．It will be too hot for people to work outdoors all over the world. |
| A．None of the investment money comes from the nation. |
| B．The disasters would be avoided if the 2°C goal could be met. |
| C．When a country invests in flood defenses, its own citizens benefits most. |
| D．All the countries are trying to avoid the worst result by reducing the emission. |
| A．To analyse the possibility of meeting the 2°C goal. |
| B．To introduce a new method to study greenhouse-gas emissions. |
| C．To assess the consequences of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. |
| D．To call each country government to raise investment in adaptation. |
2 . Traveling to the great national parks in America is a great experience and it is a wonderful opportunity to see some of the great sights in the country.
No matter which park you plan on visiting you will need to do some advance planning to make your trip easier once you arrive.
Travel can be fairly expensive, you can save money by camping, but you still have the cost of campsite fees, as well as, gas and supplies.
The most important part of traveling is to have fun!
| A．They are bound to bring you great pleasure. |
| B．Visiting some of these parks takes a little planning. |
| C．Be sure to research any seasonal closures ahead of time. |
| D．While planning your travel, keep an eye out for early bird specials. |
| E．Certain national parks get very crowded during the peak season. |
| F．Many parks have areas that are closed during certain seasons, especially winter. |
| G．Make sure that you find activities that you enjoy and explore the places that you want to see. |
3 . Google made waves recently by announcing its new program, “Google Career Certificates,” a collection of courses designed to help participants get qualifications in high-paying, high-growth job fields without attending university. The courses take about six months to complete and will cost much less, compared to a traditional college education.
The response was huge. The article has been shared thousands of times and has caused thousands of comments. Most of the feedback has been extremely positive. Those who commented included professionals, employers and especially students who were happy to see an alternative to what many consider a broken educational system — one leaving many burdened with student debt for years while unprepared for the real world. With less time, the program can better equip graduates for the jobs they are seeking with practical and necessary skills.
What Google is offering isn’t exactly new. In some ways, the alternative resembles other traditional types of training like professional education or apprenticeship (学徒制) programs. The difference since Google is a household name, its certificate can be easily recognized and accepted across companies and industries - much like a degree from a major university.
Not all the feedback I received was in praise of Google’s initiative. Many readers expressed concern that not enough employers would value Google’s certificate program. One even described it as money racket (敲诈). So to ensure other companies to follow its lead, Google has established an association for employers to tap into the program and is currently inviting more to join. But still some readers leveled the criticism that there are certain lessons taught in higher education that you simply can’t get in other places.
In the end, I don’t think Google’s program will completely replace college education. But I do think it’s a step in the right direction — a separate path for students who are looking for something different than traditional higher education.
1. Who is the new Google program intended for?| A．Career trainers. | B．Job seekers. |
| C．Business managers. | D．College professors. |
| A．Well-equipped and risk-free. | B．Time-consuming and well-rounded. |
| C．Cost-effective and widely-recognized. | D．Time-honored and highly-valued. |
| A．Praises on Google’s purpose. | B．Arguments against the Google program. |
| C．Solutions to Google’s problems. | D．Advantages of Google training courses. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Skeptical. | D．Ambiguous. |
4 . A couple, Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, best-known for living two years sealed inside Biosphere 2, are attempting to start a new human spaceflight company that, instead of launching rockets, will lift civilian passengers into the sky in a high-performance balloon.
Space Perspective aims to carry a capsule of eight passengers at a time, hanging from a 650-foot-tall balloon, 100,000 feet above Earth. The balloon will gently rise for about two hours at 12mph, floating along for another two hours as passengers enjoy refreshments and a view of the Earth below.
The goal is to make the flights accessible and affordable to as many people as possible, one day possibly hosting weddings. “Everybody should be able to see the Earth from space,” Poynter said. “We want them to really be able to experience what astronauts talk about, seeing the Earth in space in that inky blackness of the universe, and looking down at the Earth.”
A new balloon, which will be filled with hydrogen, will be used for each flight and materials from it recycled and upgraded. The capsule will be able to be reused on multiple missions. The design of the spacecraft, to be named Spaceship Neptune, shows a large capsule with a circle of seats facing out to a row of windows. A bar, a bathroom and a dome (圆顶) will be integrated into the design.
Poynter and MacCallum plan to be on one of the first test rides. The couple are famous among the space fans as they ever lived inside Biosphere 2, a research facility in Arizona, where they farmed crops and raised animals to evaluate if one day humans could live in a similar self-sustained environment on other planets. Finally, the experiment was widely considered a failure. But Poynter said it served as the beginning for her and her husband’s journey to send people into space. “We’ve been working on this concept for a long time,” Poynter said. “It goes all the way back to our days at Biosphere 2.”
1. Which of the following best describes Poynter and MacCallum?| A．Appreciative. | B．Generous. | C．Trustworthy. | D．Pioneering. |
| A．Paragraph 2. | B．Paragraph 3. | C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．Their research in launching rockets. | B．Their experience in using balloons. |
| C．Their previous flights into space. | D．Their experiment in Biosphere 2. |
| A．Taking to the Skies | B．Meeting a Unique Couple |
| C．Funding Space Research | D．Living in a Capsule |
Beijing Symphony Orchestra and the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing will launch a 7-city nationwide tour, Grand Canal of Beijing City. The concert will be staged in a
The Grand Canal, connecting Beijing and Hangzhou in
“The music combines Western classical and Peking Opera, which is
6 . Graduation day is one of the most important milestones in many peopled lives.
Timothy was
Cedric and the other employees
Cedric said they were happy to
Kindness truly made an unforgettable
| A．eager | B．able | C．content | D．sure |
| A．offered | B．took | C．selected | D．abandoned |
| A．Yet | B．Plus | C．Instead | D．Also |
| A．excited | B．confused | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．claimed | B．insisted | C．realized | D．explained |
| A．tour | B．ride | C．map | D．view |
| A．casually | B．wildly | C．quickly | D．cautiously |
| A．community | B．family | C．class | D．staff |
| A．estimated | B．discovered | C．gathered | D．assigned |
| A．putting off | B．heading for | C．returning from | D．arriving at |
| A．showed | B．invited | C．introduced | D．drove |
| A．standing | B．wandering | C．queuing | D．waiting |
| A．help | B．greet | C．comfort | D．please |
| A．ceremony | B．vision | C．gesture | D．culture |
| A．impact | B．comment | C．concept | D．record |
7 . A Good Man from the Badlands Lives His Father’s Final Words
Tseringben had just lost his father. He told me, “
Tseringben’s father wasn’t educated but was wise. He didn’t attend school, but taught himself to read Tibetan. His mother is illiterate (文盲的). And neither of his parents learned Chinese.
“
Tseringben’s respect of education drove him to become a teacher. So he could provide children the same precious opportunity he got. He was teaching a class in Yushu’s remote Yege township when his brother called to tell him their father didn’t have long to live.
The father saw Tseringben enter the room. He tried to smile. He was so pale. He said, “There’s my son!” His weak voice faded away as he presented his final wishes to Tseringben.
Upon graduating from university, Tseringben could have taken many comfortable jobs throughout the region. But remembering his father’s words, he volunteered for placement in the school with the poorest conditions authorities could find. “Even the people who lived in Yege called it no man’s land,” he told me.
| A．My mom and dad both had great taste. |
| B．We’ll even sell our house if we have to. |
| C．He has taught me precious values in his class. |
| D．He told Tseringben to be wise and kind, and how. |
| E．The spiritual peak on which I’d stood was suddenly gone. |
| F．Tseringben has probably never thought of me as his student. |
| G．My mom and dad were the most sympathetic people I’ve met! |
8 . Astrotourism: Travel to a place where you can see stars
Few sights are as breathtaking as the night sky full of stars. But you can’t get a good view of the stars in cities. Nowadays, increasing numbers of people are participating in astrotourism — traveling to destinations where they can focus on viewing stars, planets and other space-related phenomena.
Star party in Nebraska, USA
In north-central Nebraska, a week-long Star Party has been held annually for almost 30 years. Held at the Merritt Reservoir (水库), the party features classes teaching beginners about astronomy, along with some programs especially for children. The party features challenges such as a photo contest. During the day, visitors can swim in the reservoir and go fishing and boating.
Jasper National Park, Canada
The second-largest dark sky preserve in the world, Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, covers 11,000 square kilometers. In October each year, visitors show up there for the Jasper Dark Sky Festival, making Jasper National Park one of Canada’s top astrotourism destinations. During the day, visitors can enjoy the beauty of the park’s glaciers (冰川), streams, lakes and mountains.
Chile
With an average of 300 nights with clear skies per year, Chile is a great destination for astrotourism. The clear skies mean visitors are very likely to be able to see stars and planets without clouds blocking their view.
Finland
Northern Finland is one of the best places in the world to take in the northern lights. They are usually green but can be pink and more rarely red and violet In Finland’s Lapland region, they are visible 200 nights a year.
Wherever you go, astrotourism provides an opportunity to pause and reflect on the wonders of the universe.
1. Which destination is most beginner-friendly?| A．Nebraska. | B．Jasper National Park. |
| C．Chile. | D．Finland. |
| A．Swim in the reservoir. | B．Enjoy beautiful scenery. |
| C．Boat on streams. | D．Climb glaciers. |
| A．Star views. | B．The second-largest dark sky preserve. |
| C．Northern lights. | D．300 nights with clear skies. |
One windy day in March, Kitty Miller was on her way to school when she glanced into a store window and saw a great pile of lovely red apples. “Oh,” She exclaimed (惊呼). “How lovely! If only Mamma could have one!” Immediately, the store owner recognized the familiar girl and asked her to pick one. Kitty just shook her head and ran away shyly.
Kitty’s mother was extremely poor. She had been a dressmaker ever since Kitty’s father died, and had to work hard to earn a living for herself and Kitty. Unfortunately, she had recently become very sick and had to lie in bed all day long. When Kitty was away at school, the house was incredibly cold and cheerless. She missed her little angel — that is what she called Kitty. Kitty took great care of her mother. She cooked her food, mostly soup. They could not afford fresh fruit. Kitty would even sing to her mother at night.
When Kitty reached the school that day, her thoughts were full of her sick mother and the lovely red apples. She was usually an excellent student, but that day she made so many mistakes that the teacher looked at her in surprise. The little girl could only sit at her desk, with her book before her, and dream of those red apples.
When school was dismissed, Kitty started slowly homeward. She had walked only a short distance when she saw a man in front of her drop his wallet. Running quickly forward, she picked it up. The wallet felt quite heavy in Kitty’s little hand.
“There must be a good deal of money in it,” thought Kitty. “How I wish I could keep it, so that I would then be able to purchase a red apple for Mamma, and so many other things she needs.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Kitty knew this would not be right, so she hurried after the man.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The store owner saw the familiar girl rushing in, one dollar in hand.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . The remote pocket of Amhem Land, about 160 miles east of Darwin, is home to a host of threatened species, with stunning waterfalls, rock formations, and unspoiled forests. It is also the most fire-prone landscape on the planet, and up to one-third of northern Australia burns every year. However, fire isn’t just the problem — here, it’s also the solution.
During the cool of northern Australia’s early dry season, Indigenous rangers (土著护林员) weren’t fighting fires; they were lighting them. From April to July each year, they walk hundreds of miles armed with drip torches, setting the land alight, and conduct certain burns from the air, dropping incendiary pellets (燃烧弹) from helicopters. Damp vegetation, low winds, and lower temperatures at that time of year mean the fires they light are smaller and less intense, typically burning out overnight. If the land is burned gently, the wildfires that will come later won’t be as destructive. It also gives the rangers a fighting chance at putting them out.
Fighting fire with fire is not a new concept. In Arnhem Land, aboriginal elders say fire brings the land to life again; after a burn, the land is reborn. Fire was used by aboriginal people for hunting, for regeneration and for ceremony. They believed fire was the common thread. It would be a way of not just caring for country but also reconnecting with aspects of their culture. Ancient practice became modern reality through a novel approach. Aboriginal people combined customary knowledge on how, when, and where to burn with modern tools such as satellite mapping and helicopters to conduct aerial burning and drop firefighters into remote areas. Strategic fires in the early dry season, along with firefighting in the late dry season, limit wildfires, protecting forests and reducing the overall amount of smoke.
“It’s hugely innovative and globally significant,” says Shaun Ansell, the former CEO of Warddeken L and Management. “With the ranger program, you’re making that traditional knowledge and connection to country, and the history that surrounds it, valuable,” Ansell adds.
1. Why do the Indigenous rangers light fires during the early dry season?| A．To make future wildfires less destructive. | B．To burn certain type of vegetation. |
| C．To scare away threatening species. | D．To apply customary knowledge. |
| A．It is a new way of celebration. | B．It challenges the conventional concept. |
| C．It keeps up with the times. | D．It aims at mapping remote areas. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Disapproving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Ways to Protect Australian Aboriginal Land |
| B．The Origin of Australian Aboriginal Cultures |
| C．How Australian Aboriginals Fight Fire with Fire? |
| D．What Aboriginal Customary Knowledge Brings Us? |
