1 . A couple of weeks ago, my husband got a text asking him to help cut down a tree. “This is not the time of year to cut down trees,” I said to my husband, “They are full of birds’ nests. Wait until fall, until the baby birds have flown away.”
The tree didn’t seem like an urgent issue to me or my husband, but it was worrying our neighbor and she wanted it gone. So, with some unwillingness and a chainsaw (链锯), my husband and our sons headed to our neighbor’s house early Saturday morning. About an hour later, I got a phone call from my 14-year-old son. He spoke in a trembling voice, which made me worried. I grabbed my keys, expecting to be told to meet my husband and sons at the emergency room. But no, everyone was safe. My son said that birds’ nests had fallen out of the tree and some baby birds had been hurt. So, I grabbed an old towel and a laundry basket.
I put the birds in the basket and headed for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The people there are not astounded to see worried people with laundry baskets containing injured animals. They sighed at my story — they had heard many stories like this. They knew exactly how to help these birds. I was relieved that the birds would be fine, but I was still upset they had been needlessly traumatized (使受精神创伤).
A lesson from this experience is that we need to look at the whole picture. We must behave in ways that help meet needs without causing harm to others, Our efforts to move through our lives with more gentleness and care may make a big difference for someone, whether it’s a baby bird or a person.
1. Why did the author disagree with cutting down the tree at first?| A．The tree was growing well. |
| B．The tree caused her no trouble. |
| C．The tree was home to some baby birds. |
| D．The tree played a part in the ecosystem. |
| A．some little lives were hurt |
| B．he worried about his father’s safety |
| C．someone was sent to the hospital |
| D．he was unwilling to cut down the tree |
| A．Frightened. | B．Shocked. | C．Prepared. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．Treat Each Life Equally |
| B．Live in Harmony with Nature |
| C．Give Our Neighbors a Hand in Time |
| D．Help Others without Hurting Anyone |
2 . “Human activity has wiped out two-thirds of the world’s wildlife since 1970,” CNN reported on September 10, 2020. Later that month, the Guardian reported that “40 percent of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction”. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich and his colleagues argued that “the ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization”. Around the same time, the Daily Mail warned that “human civilization stands a 90 percent chance of collapse within decades due to deforestation”.
These horrible calculations and projections come from authoritative-sounding reports issued by international agencies, conservation groups, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. But is the future of wild nature and human civilization really so poor?
Data from uncontroversial mainstream sources strongly indicate that both humanity and the natural world are likely to be flourishing rather than collapsing at the end of this century. Humanity is becoming an urban species, and that’s good for the environment, since urban dwellers generally use less electricity, produce less globe-warming carbon dioxide, and have smaller land footprints than people living in the countryside. By 2100, it is estimated that 85 percent of people will be city dwellers, which would leave only 1.2 billion still living in the countryside. That means more space for the wildlife and less pollution from the agriculture.
The global tree-covering area increased by 865,000 square miles between 1982 and 2016. The researchers found that gains in forest area in the mild, subtropical and northern climatic zones are offsetting declines in the tropics. The Maryland researchers owe much of that increase to “natural afforestation on abandoned agricultural land”. “Furthermore, forests in mountainous regions are expanding as climate warming enables trees to grow at higher altitudes,” they added.
Humanity does face big environmental challenges in the coming century. But the scientific and economic evidence shows that most of the trends are positive or can be turned in positive direction by human wisdom. Rather than an age of extinction, the 21st century promises to be an era of environmental renewal.
1. Why does the author mention the reports in Paragraph 1?| A．To give examples. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To make a contrast. | D．To support his opinion. |
| A．No one will choose to live in the countryside. |
| B．More space will be available for the wildlife. |
| C．Neither humanity nor the natural world will develop quickly. |
| D．Urban residents will do more walking than those in the countryside. |
| A．The expanding and disappearance in forest area aren’t evenly matched. |
| B．The forest area in the mild, tropic and northern zones is increasing. |
| C．There are more forests in mountainous regions due to the climate warming. |
| D．The plan of “natural afforestation on abandoned agricultural land” is unfavorable. |
| A．The Bright Future of Humanity |
| B．The Challenges in the Coming Century |
| C．Better Environment, Better Future of Human |
| D．21st Century: An Era of Environmental Renewal |
3 . The public nowadays has a misunderstanding of forest fires, believing that fires should be kept out of every type of forest. Many of us can recall Smoky the Bear's famous warning: “Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires”. However, that's not always the case. Under the right conditions, and when conducted safely, fire can create many environmental benefits as well as help prevent larger, uncontrollable wildfires.
After a forest fire, many wildlife species will move into recently burned areas to feed on these newly available foods. Some reptiles and amphibians such as the pine (松树） snake prefer forests frequently burned by fire. As Herbert Stoddard put it, “One of the most harmful things modern man has done to birds has been his attempt to exclude fire from fire-type pine forests. Within a few years most forests choke up with bushes, lose their prairie-like vegetation (草原般植被） and can no longer support birds dependent on periodic burning for their food supply and proper cover.”
If you are asked to picture the forest floor, what do you see? Pine needles, cones, leaves, branches might come to mind-all sources of fuel. If these fuel sources build up without any type of removal, the 'fuel load' can lead to fires catastrophic to forests and people alike. In contrast, prescribed fire can be used by forest professionals every couple of years to keep forest fuels at an appropriate and manageable level. They can also minimize the spread of pest insects and disease and remove unwanted tree and plant species. Plus, they can create and maintain important wildlife habitats rich in grasses and promote the growth of trees, wildflowers and other various plants.
Many organizations and agencies work to promote fire on the landscape when and where appropriate. Smokey Bear even has an updated warning: “Only You can Prevent Wildfires,” as the Forest Service has over the last few decades developed policies and procedures to include prescribed fire as a management tool, as well as continuing their work to prevent and fight wildfires.
1. Why did the author mention Smoky the Bear's warning?| A．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| B．To clarify a misunderstood concept. |
| C．To show the significance of fire prevention. |
| D．To raise people's awareness of forest protection. |
| A．Forest bushes. |
| B．Fuel sources. |
| C．Pine forests. |
| D．Periodic burning. |
| A．To put out wildfires. |
| B．To keep the forest balance. |
| C．To remove tree and plant species. |
| D．To keep the fuel rich in the forest. |
| A．One Match Can Start A Forest Fire |
| B．Where There Is Smoke There Is A Fire |
| C．Not All Forest Fires Are Created Equal |
| D．Why Not Keep The Forest Fire Burning |
China's first national park in the Sanjiangyuan area,
The environment had
Unlike nature reserves,
Under the national park management, herdsmen and farmers will be turned
5 . Tropical rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and according to a new report by Rainforest Foundation Norway, humans are to blame. The world's dependence on coal, farming. soy. palm oil and mining has resulted in two-thirds of Earth's tropical rainforests being completely destroyed, and the remaining ecosystems being put closer to a tipping point.
Tropical rainforests once covered 14.5 million square kilometers of Earth's surface, but now, just one-third of that remains intact. Of the original area tropical rainforests once occupied, 34% is completely gone and 30%is suffering from degradation. All that remains is roughly 9.5 million square kilometers, and45% of that is in a degraded state, the report says.
Researchers blame human consumption for the loss. While agriculture has always been a driving factor of rainforest loss, the report said that energy consumption, international trade and the production of soy and palm oil, logging and mining have been the largest threats over the past century. A significant number of U. S. commodities rely on resources from tropical rainforests. The country heavily relies on palm oil, rubber and cocoa, all of which come from forests around the world. Oftentimes, these resources are harvested from illegally deforested lands.
Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of the Earth's biodiversity and have more carbon in living organisms than any other ecosystem. Along with supporting significant animal life, tropical rainforests are also essential to slowing down global warming. “These highly specialized ecosystems are suffering from constant abuse, through our bottomless appetite for land and resources,” said Anders Krogh, who authored the report. “We expect that upcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits provide specific targets and measures to protect intact tropical rainforests.”
The rescarchers also believe that the loss of tropical rainforests puts the whole world at risk of future pandemics. “Massive deforestation is violating nature's natural virus protection systems.” Krogh said. “The aftermath of COVID-19 should bring rainforest protection to the top of the agenda of all policy makers and world leaders concerned about preventing the outbreak of new pandemics.”
1. What is the purpose of the numbers in paragraph 2?| A．To point out the threat to the current ecosystem. |
| B．To exhibit the forest coverage rate on Earth. |
| C．To present the process of rainforest degradation. |
| D．To highlight the severe destruction of rainforests. |
| A．It displayed the richness of rainforest resources. |
| B．It stressed the effects of farming on tropical rainforests. |
| C．It explained the relationship between humans and nature. |
| D．It showed human's excessive consumption of rainforest resources. |
| A．Human diet. | B．Social structure. |
| C．Global climate. | D．Economic development. |
| A．Rainforest protection demands immediate attention. |
| B．Deforestation will affect the future generations. |
| C．Rainforest loss has brought about new pandemics. |
| D．Deforestation has accelerated the spread of the virus. |
