1 . Puppies can be taught. So can human children, though not for the first couple of years. Now, in the hope of fighting climate change, Dr Jan Langbein, of the Fredrich-Loweffler-Institut in Germany, and his colleagues hope they can train cows to use the toilet, too.
Cow pee（尿）contains a nitrogen-rich substance that, when broken down by enzymes（酶）, is transformed into ammonia（氨）. Bacteria in the soil, in turn, transform that ammonia into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas. Collecting and treating cow pee before the ammonia can be produced might, therefore, seem like a good idea. But it has proved difficult in the past without limiting the cows to small areas, which is bad for their welfare.
As Dr Langbein describes in Current Biology, this confusing problem could be solved if cows could be persuaded to voluntarily relieve themselves in a toilet. He has developed a three-stage process to help cows master toilet training. The first job was to establish the toilet. Calves（小牛）were limited to a toilet and rewarded with treats after peeing in it. Next, they were given the freedom to wander around a path outside the toilet. Peeing in the toilet were rewarded; those in the path were gently punished with a spray of water. Finally, the path was extended, to allow the animals to practice self-control over a greater distance.
Of the 16 calves involved in the training process, 11 were considered successfully toilet-trained by the end of it. Their overall performance, say the researchers, was almost comparable to that of human children. The animals managed to pee in the toilet around 77% of the time.
The next step, says Dr Langbein, is to see if cattle on a working farm can be similarly trained. Whether farmers will be keen is another question. Building toilets and training animals costs time and money, after all. But when it comes to climate change, every little helps.
1. Why did Dr Jan Langbein and his team train cows to use toilet?| A．To make use of cow pee. | B．To keep the environment clean. |
| C．To reduce greenhouse gas. | D．To limit the cows to small areas. |
| A．Using rewards and punishments. | B．Forcing them to use the toilet. |
| C．Making the toilet-training interesting. | D．Keeping them from wandering around. |
| A．It was successful. | B．It was doubtful. |
| C．The training proved difficult. | D．Calves were as smart as human children. |
| A．To encourage people to train their pets. | B．To explain an abstract science concept. |
| C．To raise awareness of caring for animals. | D．To introduce a new eco-friendly method. |
2 . Jimmy likes to follow rubbish trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he's an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce rubbish, including things that fall off rubbish trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Jimmy's jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bag.
Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many and up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them in supermarkets. The bags are not allowed in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Seeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Jimmy to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.
Among the bag bakers' arguments: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to buy paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they make up a small percentage of all rubbish on the ground today.
The industry has also taken aid at the product that has appeared as its replacement; reusable shopping bags. The stronger are usable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, long-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the earth than plastic.
Environmentalists don't question these points.They hope paper bags will be banned someday, too. They want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.
1. What has Jimmy been hired to do?| A．Argue for the use of plastic bags. | B．Recycle plastic shopping bags. |
| C．Stop things falling off trucks. | D．Help increase sales in supermarkets. |
| A．Plastic bags ending up in tree branches. | B．Bans on plastic bags. |
| C．Environmental damage done by plastic bags. | D．Too many plastic shopping bags in use. |
| A．Their less frequent use. | B．Their unpleasant appearance. |
| C．More energy consumption. | D．Their longer life cycle. |
| A．Industry, Pollution and environment | B．Rubbish collection and Waste Control |
| C．Recycle or Throw Away | D．Plastic, Paper or neither |
3 . I’m Naomi Shah, and today I’ll be talking to you about my research involving indoor air quality and asthmatic（哮喘） patients. 1.6 million deaths worldwide. One death every 20 seconds. People spend over 90 percent of their lives indoors. And the economic burden of asthma go beyond that of HIV and tuberculosis（肺结核） combined.
Now these statistics had a huge impact on me. I started researching, and I soon found that indoor air pollutants were the main causes. But soon after, I developed a novel mathematical model that essentially measures the effect of these environmental pollutants（污染物） on the lung health of asthmatic patients.
I have a volunteer subject in the audience today, Julie. And all of Julie’s data has been pre-entered into my interactive software model. So Julie’s going to her doctor’s office to get treated for her asthma. And the doctor has her sit down, and he takes her peak breath flow rate. I’ve entered it up into the interactive software model. I’ve also entered in her age, her gender and her height. Any users just clicked on “lung function report” and it’ll take them to this report that I created. When the doctor sees this , maybe he would say, “Wow, we need to give her steroids（类固醇), medication and so on.”
But I want everyone here to reimagine a world where instead of prescribing steroids and medication, the doctor turns to Julie and says, “Why don’t you go home and clean out your air cleaner. Clean out the air dusts in your home, in your workplace, in your school. Stop the use of incense and candles. And if you’re remodeling your house, take out all the carpeting and put in hardwood flooring.” Because these solutions are natural, these solutions are sustainable, and these solutions are long-term investments -- long-term investments that we’re making for our generation and for future generations.
So I’m very passionate about this research and I really want to continue it and expand it to more diseases besides asthma, as well as more pollutants. To know more relationship between them is my main task. But before I end my talk today, I want to leave you with one saying. And that saying is that genetics loads the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger（扳机）.
1. What does the underline word “subject” probably refer to in Paragraph 3?| A．The research leader. | B．The research participant . |
| C．The research instructor . | D．The research designer. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Favorable |
| C．Critical | D．Disapproving |
| A．She had better use incense and candles. |
| B．She should have the air cleaner replaced . |
| C．She has got to take steroid and medication. |
| D．She is supposed to carpet the floor with hard wood. |
| A．To show the author’s passion. |
| B．To stress the significance of the environment. |
| C．To emphasize the urgency to deepen the research. |
| D．To introduce the research between diseases and pollutants. |
1. 写信目的；
2. 个人优势；
3. 表达期待。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir/Madam,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
The Amazon rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years and losses recently have been on the rise.Brazil has asked its army
For hundreds of years,
After breakfast, I pack my bag and set out again.Being in such a
1. How old is Jaysa now?
| A．8. | B．12. | C．14. |
| A．To raise money for her health problems. |
| B．To urge the coal plant to shut down. |
| C．To encourage people to do research. |
7 . Plastic—Eating Worm
Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that ends up in landfills(垃圾填埋场) , and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms(幼虫).
Researchers in Spain and England found that the worms of the greater wax moth(大蜡螟) can break down polyethylene(聚乙烯), which accounts for 40% of plastics.
That is to say, part of plastics can be consumed by this kind of worms. The team left 100 wax worms on a plastic shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms' chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物)and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass—apparently broken down by enzymes(酶)from the worms' stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology.
Federica Bertocchini, co—author of the study, says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food—beeswax—also allows them to break down plastic." Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon—carbon bond, is there as well," she explains. "The wax worm developed a method or system to break this bond."
Jennifer Debruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify where the enzyme comes from. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物)?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team's findings might one day help make use of the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process—not simply "millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic."
1. What can we learn about the worms in the study?| A．They take plastics as their everyday food. |
| B．They can consume plastics. |
| C．They end up in landfills. |
| D．They are new creatures. |
| A．prove the research findings |
| B．discover other kinds of worms |
| C．increase the breakdown speed |
| D．find out the source of the enzyme |
| A．help to raise worms |
| B．help make plastic bags |
| C．be used to clean the oceans |
| D．be produced in factories in future |
| A．To propose new means to keep eco—balance. |
| B．To present a way to break down plastics. |
| C．To introduce the diet of a special worm. |
| D．To explain a study method on worms. |
8 . As a result of pollution，Lake Erie, on the borders of the USA and Canada, is now without any living things.
Pollution in water is not simply a matter of “poisons” killing large numbers of fish overnight. Very often the effects of pollution are not noticed for many months or years because the first organisms (生物体) to be affected are either plants or plankton(浮游生物). But these organisms are the food of fish and birds and other creatures.When this food disappears, the fish and birds die too. In this way a whole food chain can be wiped out, and it’s not until dead fish and water birds are seen at the river’s edge or on the seashore that people realize what is happening.
Where do the substances which pollute the water come from? There are two main sources of sewage (污水) and industrial waste. As more detergent (洗涤剂) is used in the home, so more of it is finally put into our rivers, lakes and seas. Detergents harm water bird, dissolving the natural substances which keep their feathers waterproof. Sewage itself, if not properly treated, makes the water dirty and prevents all forms of life in rivers and the sea from receiving the oxygen they need. Industrial waste is even more harmful as there are many highly poisonous things in it, such as copper and lead (铅).
So, if we want to stop this pollution，the answer is simple: sewage and industrial waste must be made clear before flowing into the water.It may already be too late to save some rivers and lakes, but others can still be saved if the correct action is taken at once.
1. Pollution of water is noticed ________.| A．when the first organisms are affected |
| B．when a good many fish and birds die |
| C．when poisonous things are poured into water |
| D．as soon as the balance of nature is destroyed |
| A．water | B．waste |
| C．poison | D．oxygen |
| A．Organisms. |
| B．Plants and plankton in the water. |
| C．Waste water from cities. |
| D．Industrial waste made clear before flowing into the water. |
| A．realize the serious situation clearly |
| B．put oxygen into the water |
| C．make the waste harmless before it flows into the water |
| D．make special room in the sea for our rubbish |
9 . Earth Hour is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. It's a big event usually at the end of March every year. On this evening, people “go dark”.
It's true that turning off lights for just one hour saves only a small amount of power.
But on another level, a large number of people’s acting together sends a powerful message to governments and companies.
The logo(标识) of Earth Hour is “60+” .The number 60 is for the 60 minutes of Earth Hour.
| A．But this is only the beginning. |
| B．Earth Hour represents every hour of every day. |
| C．After all, everyone has to answer for what they have done. |
| D．Besides turning off the lights, people get involved in other events. |
| E．It pushes them to take urgent measures by making changes to policies. |
| F．That is, they switch off all unnecessary lights at the same time for one hour. |
| G．The plus invites people to continue their action even after Earth Hour is finished. |
10 . Global warming is the increase of the earth’s average surface temperature due to the effect of greenhouse gases, for example, carbon dioxide, which traps heat that would otherwise escape from the earth. After the trees are cut down and more greenhouse gases are released, the “blanket” around the earth called the ozone layer（臭氧层）, will get thicker. This catches more heat and makes the earth hotter. Luckily, there are many things that every citizen of the earth can do to help reduce the effects of global warming, and it’s never too late or too early for children to take action.
The children should learn what a carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon and greenhouse gases people make as they lead the daily life and go about the normal activities. In other words, the carbon footprint is a measure of the environmental impact the life has. To live an environmentally friendly life that doesn’t contribute to global warming, people want to have the smallest carbon footprint possible.
Almost everything people do contributes to global warming and is related to fossil fuel consumption. These can be direct uses of fossil fuels, like riding in a gasoline-powered car, or indirect contributions to greenhouse gases, such as eating fruits or vegetables that have to be shipped from far way to reach their tables.
If a child wants to make a contribution to reducing global warming, he should ride a bicycle to the near park, school, his friend’s house, or anywhere else instead of taking the car. Or he may try to walk or jog, which is also helpful. In addition, although trains and buses often run on fossil fuels, on average, each person uses less energy and produces less pollution to run. Next time if children with their parents have to get around town or it’s too far to walk or bike, take the bus or other public transportation instead of asking for a ride.
1. What is the main reason for global warming?| A．The ozone layer. |
| B．The effect of cutting down trees. |
| C．The harmful effect of greenhouse gases. |
D．The increase of the earth’s inner temperature . |
| A．The definition of a carbon footprint. |
| B．Life has an impact on carbon footprint. |
| C．People should live an environmental friendly life. |
| D．People make a huge amount of carbon and greenhouse gases. |
| A．children | B．parents |
| C．citizens | D．children educators |
| A．What Can People Do To Use Less Energy? |
| B．Why Global Warming Affects Humans’ Life? |
| C．How Can Kids Help Reduce Global Warming? |
| D．How Does Carbon Footprints Measure Pollution? |
