1. What is the latest exhibition about?
| A．Weather. | B．Technology. | C．Geography. |
| A．The 2nd floor. | B．The 3rd floor. | C．The 5th floor. |
| A．Cakes. | B．Pancakes. | C．Sandwiches. |
| A．In July. | B．In August. | C．In September. |
A wildlife research led by Dr. Sean Maxwell,
“We have spent more than 70 years
UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science director Professor James Watson said the
“The research clearly shows species will respond, often
3 . Climate change is already affecting water access for people around the world, causing more severe droughts and floods. Climate change impacts the water cycle by influencing when, where, and how much rain falls. It also leads to more severe weather events over time. Increasing global temperatures causes water to rise into the air in larger amounts, which will lead to higher levels of atmospheric water vapor and more frequent, heavy, and intense rains in the coming years.
Climate scientists predict that this shift will lead to more floods since more water will fall than vegetation and soil can absorb. The remaining water, or runoff, flows into nearby waterways, picking up contaminants like fertilizers (肥料) on the way. Too much runoff eventually travels to larger bodies of water like lakes, and the ocean, damaging the water supply and limiting water access for humans and ecosystems.
When fertilizers from farming wash into lakes and the ocean, they promote the rapid growth of algae (藻类). These resulting algal blooms fill coasts and waterways with clouds of green, blue-green, red, or brown algae. They block sunlight from reaching underwater life and reduce oxygen levels within the water. Poisons from the algae can kill off fish and other aquatic animals, make people sick, and even kill humans. These poisons are especially dangerous because they can survive rainfall processes, making tap water unfit to consume once contaminated. Algal blooms also impact industries that rely on the water for business, and often cause local waterfronts to shut down during blooms.
There are many things that everyone can do to lessen the impact of climate change. Some measures include growing your own fruits and vegetables or buying locally grown produce, since produce is often transported to grocery stores from far away by trucks, which add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. You could also walk or ride a bike instead of driving a car.
1. What is a consequence of climate change according to paragraph 1?| A．Extreme weather. | B．Water supply. | C．Water cycle. | D．Polluted atmosphere. |
| A．Nutrients. | B．Soils. | C．Pollutants. | D．Organisms. |
| A．Master some ways to do farming work. | B．Buy more foreign fruits and vegetables. |
| C．Have a regular exercise like walking. | D．Form some habits of reducing carbon dioxide. |
| A．Causes of Climate Change. | B．Harm Climate Change Does to Humans. |
| C．Impacts of Climate Change on Water Access. | D．Ways to Lessen the Impacts of Climate Change. |
4 . The American space agency NASA has launched (发射) a new instrument designed to collect data on volcanic activity and air quality. The device arrived at the International Space Station on February 21. NASA hopes the small orbiting instrument could help predict a volcanic eruption before an explosion happens.
NASA calls the instrument NACHOS, which stands for Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System. It contains imaging sensors designed to recognize gases like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. The presence of those gases can signal possible volcanic activity.
NACHOS was built to observe trace gases in areas as small as 0. 4 square kilometers. The six-kilogram instrument is set to be deployed (部署) three months later. It will operate attached to a CubeSat, a small satellite weighing less than 10 kilograms. NASA says NACHOS will observe from about 480 kilometers above Earth’s surface.
NASA considers the instrument a “prototype”, meaning its operations and observations will be studied during its orbit, which is expected to last one year. During its year-long mission, the team will study the instrument’s performance to learn whether the technology should be further developed.
Steve Love is a scientist with the Department of Energy. He said a volcano may give off sulfur dioxide before there is any volcanic activity. Such a device could help emergency officials take early measures to protect citizens and property from volcanic eruptions. But NASA says NACHOS can help scientists on Earth in other ways, too.
The instrument can also be used to observe gas levels from natural and human-made sources that can be harmful to humans. One gas that NACHOS will search for is nitrogen dioxide, which often comes from burning fossil fuels. Identifying the gas could help scientists find areas with high levels of harmful pollution.
“When we recognize that these gases are present and can localize their sources, we have the opportunity to take action and reduce harmful health influences,” Love said.
In the past, NASA created satellites to observe these kinds of gases. But Love said those required high-resolution images and sensitive instruments that were costly to produce and operate.
Smaller devices, like NACHOS, could enable a wider use of the technology at a much lower cost. If it proves successful, the technology could also be used in Earth-based systems, NASA says.
1. What will NACHOS do to find possible volcanic activity?| A．Analyze past explosions. | B．Observe the color of clouds. |
| C．Identify certain gases. | D．Collect volcanic pictures. |
| A．By listing detailed facts. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following time order. | D．By making classifications. |
| A．Reduce harmful gas levels. | B．Delay volcanic eruptions. |
| C．Improve satellites’ functions. | D．Help protect people’s health. |
| A．It costs much less. | B．It can be used in Earth-based systems. |
| C．It works longer. | D．It can be easily controlled. |
5 . Humans are not the only ones adapting to (适应) the effects of global climate change. Animals are also adapting to the environmental changes—some warm-blooded animals are beginning to “shapeshift (变身)” in response to shifts in climate, according to a recent study carried out by a team of researchers. The leader of the team is Sara Ryding, a researcher at Deakin University in Australia.
In the study, researchers have found new evidence that supports the theory that some warm-blooded animals are experiencing changes to their bodies due to the rising temperatures, resulting in larger legs, ears and beaks (喙) in some cases. The researchers have noted that warm-blooded animals living in colder climates have smaller legs, ears and beaks than animals of the same species living in warmer climates.
“When climate change is discussed in mainstream media, people are asking ‘Can humans overcome this?’ or ‘What technology can solve this?’” Ryding says.
She says that just like humans, animals also have to adapt to climate change, as shapeshifting for some of the warm-blooded animals is occurring over a far shorter time period.
“The climate change that we have created is putting much pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not,” Ryding says.
Researchers have found body change in birds in Australia and North America. Certain species of Australian parrots have shown about 4%~10% increase in the size of their beaks since 1871, the reason for which is rising temperatures. In North America, the dark-eyed junco (灯芯草雀) also has seen an increase in beak size.
“Larger beaks help birds dissipate (驱散) extra body heat more effectively, which is useful as global temperatures rise. However, shapeshifting does not mean that animals are able to deal with climate change easily and that all is ‘fine’,” Ryding says. “It just means that they are struggling to adjust themselves to surviving it.”
1. What happens to some warm-blooded animals in warmer climates?| A．Some parts of their bodies are missing. |
| B．Their bodies become colder and colder. |
| C．Their bodies change into smaller ones. |
| D．Some of their body parts become larger. |
| A．To warn about the decrease of animal species. |
| B．To speak highly of animals’ ability to survive. |
| C．To explain why animals change the body shape. |
| D．To show the evidence of animals’ shapeshifting. |
| A．Climate change does little harm to bird species. |
| B．Climate change is still a big challenge for birds. |
| C．Birds can easily deal with global climate change. |
| D．Birds fail to adjust themselves to climate change. |
| A．All Animals Have to Adapt to Global Climate Change |
| B．Rising Temperatures Are Destroying Animals’ Bodies |
| C．Climate Change Is Making Some Animals Shapeshift |
| D．Warm-blooded Animals Inform Us of Global Warming |
6 . The climate change and environmental crises are now closely connected with our daily lives. We've collected a small selection of our favourite documentaries, charting the history and future of the challenges we face.
 | KISS THE GROUND The documentary adopts a light voice when exploring the power of the worlds soils to draw in carbon from the air. The film begins by examining how farming and pesticides have led to soil loss, tracking the damage done to ecology, health and climate. The solution is found through regenerative faming —a field receiving more and more attention. |
 | ICE ON FIRE Dramatically titled, Leonardo DiCaprio's 2019 documentary focuses on the melting polar ice caps of the Arctic. The documentary explores the planetary impact of melting ice, but intelligently includes solutions. DiCaprio explores renewable energy technologies and sustainable economies to put forward a vision for a cleaner future. |
 | CHASING CORAL It can be difficult to really understand what climate breakdown looks like. In 2017, Chasing Coral brought the very real impacts of climate change into sharp focus. The insight into the world's corals suffering from ocean acidification and temperature rise is impressive. |
 | REBUILDNG PARADISE Wildfires — once a natural regulator of ecosystems, now an increasing phenomenon thrown out of rhythm by climate change — are so frequent that many hardly consider the consequence. While it's one thing to deal with the financial loss and restoration, it's something quite different to repair the broken spirit of a community. In Rebuilding Paradise, we follow the journey of the citizens of Paradise, California, as they attempt to restart their lives from the ashes of the destructive 2018 wildfires. |
| A．KISS THE GROUND | B．ICE ON FIRE |
| C．CHASING CORAL | D．REBUILDING PARADISE |
| A．Wildfires nowadays break out as frequently as before. |
| B．Wildfires have both physical and psychological impacts. |
| C．The damage caused by wildfires can never be recovered. |
| D．Wildfires do more harm to economy than to the environment. |
| A．They focus on the speed of the global warming. |
| B．They relate to the global issue of climate change. |
| C．They analyze the frequency of the natural disasters. |
| D．They present solutions to dealing with the challenges. |
7 . A Russian natural gas tanker has completed an experimental round trip along the Northern Sea Route (NSR)— the first time the path across the Arctic has been made at this time of year. It returned to the Russian gas station at Sabetta on February 19. The voyage by the Christophe de Margerie tanker through the ice is the latest visual indicator of climate change in the cold region.
The tanker set out from a Chinese port on January 27 after delivering its cargo. It entered the Northern Sea Route, which traverses(横越) Russia's north coast. A few days later near Cape Dezhnev, it was met by the Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory). Together they completed the 2, 500-nautical-mile voyage through the ice in l I days and 10 hours.
The ship managed-to complete the first leg of the trip from Russia to China without an icebreaker. Both of the journeys broke records for winter navigation(航行) due to the changing climate in the Arctic allowing passage through thinner ice. Using the Northern Sea Route lets shippers in Russia and other countries avoid a much longer southern journey around Europe, the Middle East and all of southern Asia, saving millions of dollars.
The ships encountered no multi-year buildup of old ice on the route, and the deepest ice was about 5 feet thick. However, meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus called that a clear indicator of "a climate emergency".
Last May, Christophe de Margerie became the first large-capacity cargo ship to complete an eastbound transit of the Northern Sea Route, two months earlier in the year than the journey traditionally made.
"As a result of the early Northern Sea Route voyage completed by Christophe de Margerie in May 2020, as well as the current NSR voyage, the navigation in the Eastern part of the Arctic was practically doubled," Eric Holthaus said. He noted that for decades the transit route along that part of the NSR had typically remained closed by ice from November until July.
1. Which factor contributed most to Christophe de Margerie's successful trip?| A．The ideal equipment. | B．The ocean current. |
| C．The nuclear power. | D．The climate change. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Concerned. | C．Critical. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．Picked up. | B．Prepared for. | C．Came across. | D．Depended on. |
| A．2 months. | B．3 months. | C．4 months. | D．6 months. |
8 . For 300 years, the Slims River had been flowing through Canada’s Yukon region. But last year, in only four days, the water in the big river reduced sharply, which made the river almost disappear. What happened?
After a year of careful studies, a group of scientists recently said that the sudden change of the river was caused by climate change. The Slims River used to be a big river, reaching up to 150 metres at its widest points. It carried melt water from the huge Kaskawulsh glacier(冰川) into the Kluane River, then into the Yukon River toward the Bering Sea.
But in spring 2016, there was a sharp melting of the Kaskawulsh glacier because of climate change. It made the melt water run in a different direction, and into a second river, the Alsek River, then into the Gulf of Alaska. It is thousands of kilometers away.
In geography, this is called “river piracy”. Although it was not unusual in ancient times, this is the first time it has happened under scientists’ noses in modern times. The Slims River is almost dry now, which also takes away the clean air in the region because strong wind blows up all the dust in the river bed. Fish have already swum to other rivers. And sheep from Kluane National Park are now coming down to eat the fresh plants.
Lonnie Thompson, a scientist from Ohio State University, the US, said that we could hardly feel the effects of climate change in our daily life, but the case of the Slims River shows what will happen when gradual temperature increases.
1. Why did the Slims River almost disappear?| A．Because the air pollution brought more rain to Yukon region. |
| B．Because the climate suddenly became hotter than before. |
| C．Because the human activities destroyed the banks of the river. |
| D．Because the Kaskawulsh glacier did not exist any longer. |
| A．The Slims River has now become part of Kluane National Park. |
| B．The air in the region of the Sli ms Ri ver is still clean. |
| C．Climate change has no effect on our daily life. |
| D．Global warming can bring sudden changes to the environment. |
① the Kaskawulsh glacier ② the Gulf of Alaska
③ the Yukon River ④ the Alsek River
⑤ the Bering Sea ⑥ the Kluane River
| A．①→④→② | B．①→③→⑤ |
| C．③→⑥→⑤ | D．⑥→③→② |
| A．A river suddenly disappears without any reason. |
| B．Two rivers join together to make a bigger one. |
| C．The flow of a river is suddenly taken away into another. |
| D．The water in a river reduces sharply. |
9 . Ever since Earth formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago, its climate has gone through a number of incredible changes.
All you have to do is look at images of the Jurassic Period (侏罗纪时期) to know that at one time, much of our planet was covered in extremely hot and humid jungle. Skip ahead a couple million years and you get to an ice age event, when global temperature experienced a huge drop. While many species were not able to deal with these changing climate patterns, others successfully adapted, and some are even still with us today. Now, as humanity pushes the planet closer to another extreme climate event, scientists are eager to find out how the world's species will react. The idea was highlighted in a study published on April 6 in the journal PNAS, which showed that between 1970 and 2010, open water species such as lobsters and fish had declined by about half in tropical marine zones across the globe because over the 40-year time period, sea temperatures in those regions had risen by roughly 0. 2°C.
The lower numbers aren't a sign of all the sea creatures dying off though. In fact, the scientists found some of them outside of their traditional habitats, meaning that if a species can migrate to cooler waters and adapt in a new environment, they will.
However, those movements aren’t always a good thing; species that can' t move, such as coral, which is fixed to the seabed, rely on the fish and other sea creatures to contribute to the natural food chain and stay healthy. Additionally, when a non- native species moves into a new area, it threatens to disrupt the ecosystem that already exists there.
Depending on the species, it can take anywhere from one generation to thousands and thousands of years to properly adapt, so the changes that have occurred in just the last 40 years are very troubling for scientists. As Sebastian Ferse, an ecologist at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Germany, explained, “In geological history, this has occurred in the blink of an eye. To see such changes occurring so rapidly is something quite alarming.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Some species that adapted to the climate changes survived. |
| B．Most species were able to deal with the changing climate patterns. |
| C．Global temperature experienced a huge drop during Jurassic Period. |
| D．Much of our planet was covered in humid jungle during ice age event. |
| A．By changing their food chain. | B．By adjusting their own temperature. |
| C．By moving to other places and adapted. | D．By human beings' protecting. |
| A．Improve. | B．Balance. | C．Disturb. | D．Establish. |
| A．Optimistic. . | B．Negative. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
10 . Venice is suffering the worst flooding the city has experienced in 50 years. The city is “on its knees” and Venetian Mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted as water submerged (淹没) much of the famous historical city.
While floods are a normal part of life in Venice, they have never happened with such frequency before. Experts say that climate change is likely to blame.
Flooding is just one of the many impacts from climate change that is being experienced with more frequency and globally threatens many vulnerable (脆弱的) areas and regions. There is a threat that is not often considered.
Changes in the ocean will have a profound impact on many of these sites.
Experts say that the solutions to saving these sites will be varied, but many will be very expensive.
| A．Different ways can be used to save these sites. |
| B．Climate change will impact these sites in different ways. |
| C．It is the damage from climate change to the world’s heritage. |
| D．But putting in place protective measures has proven difficult. |
| E．Warming water threatens to kill much of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef. |
| F．Many heritage sites on land are facing the great threat posed by global warming. |
| G．Therefore, they suggest that countries should work together to protect heritage sites. |
