1 . According to the United Nations, 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come directly from the way that we currently produce our electricity.71 percent of the earth is covered in water yet only around 1.5 percent of the global energy is produced through wave power. That’s what inspired Eco Wave Power CEO, Inna Braverman to take on the challenge.
Two weeks after she was born in Ukraine in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred and she got hurt, suffering from breathing arrest and a clinical death. But thanks to her mother, who was a nurse, she was saved. Growing up, she felt it her purpose to find green and sustainable energy.
Inna found that previous wave energy developers have decided to pursue offshore technologies, contributing to huge installation and maintenance costs, incredibly vulnerable stations in storms, and consequently lack of funding. Her innovative version, however, is to install the power station on land. The only part of the system in the water is the floaters which bob up and down with the waves. These push compressed air into a tank where the energy is stored to produce electricity. The floaters are attached to existing man-made structures such as banks, piers, and breakwaters.
The simplicity of the design makes it cheaper to install and maintain as well as being better protected from rough weather and therefore, insurable. Once a commercial plant producing 20 megawatt s or more (enough for 20,000 homes) is in place, the unit cost significantly reduces. “Our price of energy decreases to about $0.05 US (€0.05) per kilowatt hour, which is comparable to the prices of onshore wind,” Inna explains.
A pilot station was installed in Gibraltar in 2016. It was the first wave energy system to be connected to the grid in Europe. More tests of the wave energy system have been arranged in different countries and regions.
1. What do we know from the first two paragraphs?| A．Inna was inspired by a UN program to focus on green energy. |
| B．Inna’s early experience enabled her to explore green energy solutions. |
| C．Inna came up with the idea of green energy thanks to her mother. |
| D．Green and sustainable energy solutions are greatly influenced by the nuclear disaster. |
| A．To demonstrate the environmental impact of wave energy. |
| B．To highlight Inna Braverman’s innovative approach to wave energy. |
| C．To outline the challenges faced by other wave energy developers. |
| D．To provide information about wave energy production around the world. |
| A．Its maintenance on the sea floor. | B．Its dependence on government funding. |
| C．Its installation on land. | D．Its exclusive focus on offshore technologies. |
| A．Eco Wave Power: Pioneer in Sustainable Energy |
| B．Chernobyl Survivor’s Vision: Endless Power for the Future |
| C．Land-Based Wave Power: Innovation for Green Electricity |
| D．Onshore Energy: Eco Wave Power’s Fight Against Gas Emissions |
2 . The State of the World’s Birds — report from conservation group Bird Life is the latest critical survey that highlight the scale of the current biodiversity crisis. It says, more than half the world’s bird species are in decline, as human activities including agriculture and expansion into habitats continue to wreak havoc on bird populations.
“We have already lost over 160 bird species in the last 500 years, and the rate of extinction is accelerating,” said Lucy Haskell, who is lead author of the report. “Historically, most extinctions were on islands, but worryingly there is a growing wave of continental extinctions, driven by landscape-scale habitat loss.”
The report reviewed data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Analysis showed that 5,412 of bird species worldwide, or 49 percent, have declining populations, while 38 percent are stable, 6 percent are increasing, and 6 percent have unknown trends. One in eight species is threatened with extinction, and also highlighted the massive scale of population loss in several well-surveyed areas.
The expansion and intensification (集约化) in agriculture is the leading threat to birds, the report said, impacting at least 73 percent of threatened species. Unsustainable logging and management of forests is another significant threat, impacting nearly half of threatened bird species.
Birds play an essential role in the health of ecosystems around the world. They are predators, pollinators, seed dispensers, and scavengers, and help to move and cycle nutrients across wide ranges. “Birds tell us about the health of our natural environment — we ignore their messages at our peril,” Lucy said.
Authors of the report said that governments must prioritize more sustainable agriculture practices and the protection of natural habitats in order to slow population decline in bird species. There are numerous examples of populations bouncing back with the help of well-coordinated conservation programs. “If we give nature a chance, it can recover,” said But chart, who is chief scientist for Bird Life. “There is no denying that the situation is terrible, but we know how to reverse these declines.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “wreak havoc on” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Gradually change. | B．Sharply increase. | C．Slightly disturb. | D．Seriously damage. |
| A．By listing causes. | B．By making comparisons. | C．By analyzing data. | D．By answering questions. |
| A．Illegal hunting for birds. | B．The development of agriculture. |
| C．Poor management of forests. | D．The loss of landscape-scale habitats. |
| A．Birds play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity. |
| B．Governments have protected natural habitats greatly. |
| C．Conservation programs need to be updated more frequently. |
| D．Scientists are confident about slowing population decline of birds. |
3 . They say once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget. Most of us learnt when we were kids, and many still put on our helmets, put our feet on the pedals, and shoot off for a ride around the streets.
First, let’s look at the health benefits. Cycling can improve cardiovascular (心血管的) health, burn excess body fat and strengthen your leg muscles.
Finally, cycling can also be good for the environment. It can help you to reduce your carbon footprint.
So, whether people wan to cycle for their health, getting about town, their wallet, the environment, or a combination of all of them — the popularity of cycling is on the rise.
| A．Cyclists face neither of these issues. |
| B．In recent times, cycling has seen a boost in popularity. |
| C．There are also some plus sides for your wallet’s health. |
| D．And cycling’s benefits aren’t just physical but mental as well. |
| E．Not pumping out fumes into the atmosphere is better for the planet. |
| F．Why are so many people still crazy about cycling when they grow up? |
| G．Cycling can be a great way to travel to and from work or get about town. |
Debates have been going on
The scientists insisted that such schemes
Green groups claimed CCS would not make “a meaningful contribution to 2050 climate targets”. They say CCS was not reliable to decarbonize the energy system and that CCS has
But the claims
A government spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said, “We are committed to meeting our climate change targets in a way
5 . Thinking of ways to reduce the impact of pollution is on everyone's minds. This is how 14-year-old Vinisha Umashankar, a student of SKP Vanitha International School in Tamil Nadu, is doing her part to save the planet.
In October 2018, Vinisha saw an ironing worker throw a few pieces of hot charcoal on the pathway and then pour water on it. When asked why he was doing that, he explained that he was cooling the hot charcoal before he could throw it into the dustbin.
On reaching home, she did a little quick research on the Internet and learnt that to make 1kg of charcoal, 12 fully-grown trees need to be cut down. Apart from that, burning of coal emits harmful gases like carbon monoxide. That is when she started to think of alternative sources of heat to iron clothes, and the first idea that popped into her mind was solar energy. While Vinisha knew that solar energy can be harnessed (利用)to generate power, she did not know how. So she referred to college-level Physics books.
By September 2019, Vinisha had finished working on the technical paper. Impressed with her work, her father submitted her paper to different competitions and soon it was picked up by a group of engineers at the National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad, who helped make the prototype (雏形).The ironing cart has solar panels as the roof, which is connected to 100ah battery. Once the battery is fully charged it will power the steam iron box for six hours. Apart from that, the cart has USB ports which can be used to charge mobile phones, too.
The approximate cost of this ironing cart is yet to be determined, and for the future, Vinisha hopes to use her prize money to deploy (配置)a few ironing carts in her hometown and get feedback from the ironing workers.
1. Which of the following best describes Vinisha?| A．Creative. | B．Intelligent. | C．Determined. | D．Energetic. |
| A．He made the prototype of the solar ironing cart. |
| B．He wrote the technical paper of the solar ironing cart. |
| C．He handed in her technical paper to various contests. |
| D．He looked for renewable energy to iron clothes. |
| A．It has low production costs. |
| B．It can work a whole day continuously. |
| C．It has a 100ah battery on the roof. |
| D．It can help reduce the use of charcoal. |
1. When does the OED add new words?
| A．During the summer. | B．During the fall. | C．During the winter. |
| A．People correcting words seen on the Internet. |
| B．People spreading new words quickly on websites. |
| C．People making up new words on social media. |
| A．It is free to live there. |
| B．People only get around on foot. |
| C．The houses are made from recyclable materials. |
| A．Zero. | B．Four. | C．Five. |
7 . People in Florida recently had to escape from flash floods after two feet of rain fell in 26 hours. Heavy rains caused a hillside to break down and bury a community in Washington State earlier this year. Rainstorms and floods attacked Colorado last year, and sudden floods swept Atlanta in 2009, and Nashville in 2010.
In the National Climate Assessment, published last week, researchers in the United States reported that “large increases in heavy rains have occurred in the Northeast, Midwest and Great Plains, where heavy downpours have caused flooding events and other relevant disasters”.
In the United States, the increase in water vapor (蒸汽) has been on the order of 3 percent or 4 percent since the 1970s, when most of the human-caused global warming has occurred since then. That may not sound like a big jump, but the effect is enormous. Two leading scientists, Kevin E. Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and David R. Easterling at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ran some calculations and agreed that the global warming has, on average, put more than a trillion gallons (加仑) of extra water into the air over the 48 states, probably closer to two trillion. That extra water has to fall as rain or snow if the condition is suitable.
“It rains harder than it used to,” said Dr. Trenberth, who could not resist adding: “When it rains, it pours.” So they suggested intensifying standards for the designs of dams, and hardening roads and culverts (涵洞) against the possibility of more flash floods.
The warming of the planet has slowed in recent years, but scientists think that is likely temporary. They expect it to get much, much warmer as this century progresses, and that can only mean that the rains will fall harder still.
1. Why did the author mention some floods in the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the topic. | B．To attract young readers. |
| C．To show some evidence | D．To show the latest events. |
| A．changing. | B．adjusting. | C．strengthening. | D．decreasing. |
| A．The climate will be better soon. | B．The bad climate will disappear. |
| C．The bad climate will be worse. | D．The climate will keep the same. |
| A．a short-story collection | B．a personal diary |
| C．a magazine of art | D．a science magazine |
