1 . Bees are essential for the pollination of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Sadly, over the past 15 years, the global population of the hardworking insects has been dropping worldwide at alarming rates due to loss of food and habitat. Now, Dutch cities are coming up with creative ideas to help stem the population decrease of these all-important insects.
In Amsterdam, bees can live for free in specially built “hotels” — tall wooden structures — across the city. While they may not look like much to the untrained eye, they provide perfect homes for members of the over 200 known species of solitary bees. As the name indicates, the insects spend their lives alone. The smart insects nest inside holes like the ones provided by the insect hotels, marking their occupancy by covering the entrance with a mud “door”. Though unable to produce honey, solitary bees are excellent pollinators and perform an essential role in many ecosystems.
Additionally, city officials are also educating people on the use of harmful chemicals and are providing prize money to encourage developers to build green roofs and populate them with local plants. In 2015, they set a goal to change some plants in public green spaces to native plants. Geert, one of eight ecologists working for the city, says, “Our idea is when we design a park, we use native species but also the species that give a lot of flowering and fruit for bees.” Many people, with help from the government, are replacing the sidewalks outside their homes with small gardens featuring flowers.
In Utrecht, bus stop roofs are gradually being turned into beautiful, living gardens designed to attract varieties of bee species. The green roofs, which naturally collect both rainwater and dust, are also beneficial for the environment.
These cities’ collective efforts seem to be working. A recent study found that the variety of bee species there has increased by an astonishing 45 percent since 2000.
1. What does the underlined word “stem” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Review . | B．Stop. | C．Monitor. | D．Improve. |
| A．They’re not social insects. |
| B．They make high-quality honey. |
| C．They like to nest together in woods. |
| D．They’re scared of other species of bees. |
| A．Collect rainwater for future use. |
| B．Plant flowers for enjoyment. |
| C．Draw bees to them. |
| D．Clear dust away. |
| A．Protecting the environment. |
| B．Importance of bees in ecosystems. |
| C．Design ideas of insect hotels and bee stops. |
| D．Dutch cities’ attempts to restore bee population. |
2 . The Tokyo Summer Olympics is going green. The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.
One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be“sustainable”—to avoid using too many natural resources, so that the games are easy on the environment. As part of this goal, the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.
Almost all electronics are made with small amounts of "precious metals", like gold and silver. But collecting enough of these metals to make 5,000 medals was a huge challenge. That's because the amount of metal in each device is tiny. It would take about 20,000 cell phones to get just 1 kilogram of gold.
Beginning in April 2017, the organizers placed collection boxes around the country, and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices. Soon people began to respond to the initiative, turning in smartphones, digital cameras, hand-held games, and laptops. At first, collection went slowly, but soon more and more areas began to take part. By the end, 1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.
Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces. After being taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted (熔炼) to get all the gold, silver, and bronze elements. This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill. It's also dangerous, because some of the metals and other things aren't safe for people to touch or breathe.
By the end of March, 2019, the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around3xkilograms of gold, 4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze. And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.
1. What can we know about the Tokyo Olympics medals?| A．They are hugely valuable. |
| B．They are of high quality. |
| C．They are designed uniquely. |
| D．They are made from e-waste. |
| A．The difficulty of making the medals. |
| B．The process of collecting old electronics. |
| C．The initiative to recycle used smartphones. |
| D．The classification of the collected devices. |
| A．creative | B．well-paid |
| C．demanding | D．time-consuming |
| A．To advocate sustainable use of resources. |
| B．To promote the spirit of Olympic Games. |
| C．To introduce a new technique to make medals. |
| D．To call people's attention to environmental damage. |
1. 感谢他的关注；2. 简要介绍相关情况；3. 谈谈你的感想。
参考词汇：环保购物袋 environment-friendly shopping bag
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear David,
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
4 . The band Coldplay has released (发行) a new album called “Everyday Life”. But the group has announced it won’t go on tour until it can figure out how to tour without making the climate worse.
Normally when bands have a new album, they go on tour to promote (推销) the album. They may fly from country to country and drive across countries in buses, performing in concert after concert.
Touring is an important way singers and musicians earn money. But tours are very hard on the environment. Flying is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases. During their last tour, the band flew to five different continents and played 122 shows. They traveled with 109 supporting workers, 32 trucks, and 9 bus drivers. Think about the pollution from Coldplay’s flights as well as the trucks, buses and huge amounts of electricity required to power the shows!
It’s hard to keep track of the pollution a band creates while touring, but most of the environmental cost comes from the fans. During their last tour, Coldplay entertained 5.4 million fans, all of whom had to travel to the concerts and bought “merchandise” like T-shirts, CDs and posters. Some bought food and drinks at the concerts, creating tons of plastic waste.
Instead of touring to promote the new album, Coldplay recorded two videos of the band playing their new songs live in Jordan and has put the videos of their performances up for free viewing on YouTube.
Coldplay, one of whose dreams is to have a show with no single-use plastic and have it largely sun-powered, says it won’t tour again until its members work out how to make their tours help instead of hurt. The decision will cost the band a lot of money in the short run, but it could pay off big for the planet.
1. Why is Coldplay’s last tour mentioned twice by the author?| A．To stress the necessity of the tour. |
| B．To describe Coldplay’s great popularity. |
| C．To introduce Coldplay’s basic information. |
| D．To show huge environmental costs of the tour. |
| A．By making a tour in Jordan. |
| B．By distributing free CDs to fans. |
| C．By posting their performances online. |
| D．By performing their new songs live on TV. |
| A．Thoughtless. | B．Meaningful. |
| C．Temporary. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . China is known for its long history, rich culture, and cute pandas. It’s also known for some of the worst air quality in the world. But the Asian country is now using a natural weapon against air pollution — trees.
In February, China’s government announced plans to cover at least 32,400 square miles with forest. That is about the size of Ireland. Some 60,000 soldiers will take charge of the tree-planting program. Most of the trees will be planted in Hebei Province. That is an area surrounding China’s capital, Beijing.
Huang Wei is an environmentalist who works for Greenpeace East Asia. She is optimistic about the plan. “Trees act as a sink to absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants,” she said. Carbon dioxide is a gas that traps the Earth’s heat. It contributes to global warming.
Why is China’s air filled with harmful chemicals? It’s because the country relies on coal-fired power plants. When coal is burned, PM2.5 is produced. PM2.5 is a pollutant. It can cause shortness of breath, heart attacks, and even death.
Just two years ago, pollution levels were so high in Beijing that schools and factories had to close. Huang hopes China’s tree-planting plan will reduce the nation’s suffering from air pollution.
The Chinese government is getting help from others in its drive to make the nation greener. Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect and urban planner. He is leading an effort to plant vertical (垂直的) forests in China.
Boeri’s designs have already taken root in the city of Nanjing, China. That’s where the Nan-jing Green Towers are under construction. The building has two towers. Thousands of trees and hanging plants will grow on the balconies and rooftops.
Boeri says his goal is to design buildings that help the environment and improve air quality. He also hopes to encourage a new generation of green architects.
1. What measure is China taking to improve the air quality according to the passage?| A．Planting more tress. |
| B．Closing the electricity factories. |
| C．Forbidding people to burn coal. |
| D．Designing new buildings. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Promising. | D．Ineffective. |
| A．Adapts to. | B．Results in. |
| C．Refers to. | D．Concentrates on. |
| A．Because his design can keep the polluted air outside the house. |
| B．Because his buildings are built in forest. |
| C．Because his design is special with two towers. |
| D．Because his design is environmentally friendly. |
6 . Plans to bring wild tigers back to their original home , their historical range(历史分布范围） in the IliBalkhash region, have been announced by Kazakhstan( 哈萨克斯坦 ) and an agreement with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to conduct a tiger reintroduction program has been signed . “It will not only bring wild tigers back to their original home, but also protect the unique ecosystem of the IliBalkhash region，” said Askar Myrzakhmetov, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
If successful, Kazakhstan will be the first country in the world to bring wild tigers back to an entire region where they have died out for nearly half a century. Tiger reintroduction projects have only been achieved within national borders and in areas that are considered current tiger habitats . Kazakhstan's tiger reintroduction program is unique and it badly requires the restoration of a vast forest that is part of the wild tiger's historical range.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, wild tigers have lost over 90 per cent of their historical range. Wild tigers have completely disappeared from the region since the late 1940s, due to the loss of habitat. To prepare for the return of wild tigers, on 1st January 2018 Kazakhstan will set up a new nature reserve in the southwestern IliBalkhash, in order to restore the unique forest habitat. This will include the protection of existing wildlife, and reintroducing important prey ( 猎物 ), such as the endangered wild Bactrian deer（中亚红鹿).
Restoring tigers will also help protect Lake Balkhash and prevent it from repeating the fate of the Aral Sea, formerly the world's fourth largest lake and now 10 percent of its original size. “The hard work remains ahead of us. We have to spare no effort to make this region ready for tigers and involve all the relevant people to make this happen. That means dealing with illegal activities, having these people who govern parks be welltrained and equipped, increasing prey populations and involving local communities，” said Ekaterina Vorobyeva, Director of the WWF program.
1. What is Askar Myrzakhmetov's attitude toward the tiger reintroduction program?| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Concerned. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．The increasing loss of prey. | B．The evolution of the species. |
| C．The lack of natural living places. | D．The serious environmental pollution. |
| A．Regulating human activities. | B．Limiting the number of prey. |
| C．Building a reserve for tigers only. | D．Training tigers to be more adaptable. |
| A．Efforts to restore forests in Kazakhstan |
| B．Bringing tigers back home to Kazakhstan |
| C．Attempts to handle illegal activities effectively |
| D．Preventing tigers disappearing in Kazakhstan |
Studies and reports seem to come in everyday talking about the state of the world. Global warming and pollution are threatening the delicate balance of life on Earth. The vast amount of troubles in the world can make anything we do seem unmeaning. But if we can do just a few things to help, the joined efforts can create a huge difference in both the world and in our lives. If you are not sure where to begin here are some simple things that can create a big change.
Grow your own garden. Growing your own garden can create a tremendous difference. Having fresh fruits and vegetables at your finger tips can not only improve your health, it can also save you money. Spending time each day working in your garden is wonderful exercise and a great way to get plenty of sunshine.
Stop buying chemical cleaners. The special chemicals to clean their house can have bad effect on your health and the environment. Instead of buying more bottles of chemicals and creating more waste，try some of the simple cleaner ideas that you can make yourself. Vinegar and baking soda is one of the simplest, most effective, and cheapest cleaning solutions available. Lemon juice is another safe and effective cleaner that can remove soap scum and whiten clothes as well as many other uses.
Change your light bulbs. Replacing your ordinary light bulbs with low energy bulbs can both _____________ and help the environment. These long lasting bulbs reduce your energy bill and do not need to be replaced as often as conventional bulbs.
Recycle. The tried and true method of helping the environment is recycling. Most cities have recycling centers or recycling pick-up available for people. Plastic, glass, paper, even old phonebooks can be recycled and used for other things.
1. List three appropriate measures you can do to help the environment. (Please answer within 10 words.)2. What is the best title of this passage ? (Please answer within 10 words)
3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words. (Please answer within 6 words.)
4. Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
Don’t buy bottles of chemical and don’t make much waste any longer, you can use some simple ways to clean.
5. Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 into Chinese.
8 . A day in the clouds
The air is thin and we have to rest several times on the short hike(徒步旅行)from camp. To our left, snow-covered mountains disappear into clouds that seem almost close enough to touch. On the plain(平原) in front of us, we can just make out a herd of graceful animals. This is why we stay here.
Tibetan antelopes live mainly on the plains of Tibet. Watching them move slowly across the green grass, I'm struck by their beauty. I'm also reminded of the danger they are in. They are being hunted, illegally, for their valuable fur.
My guide is Zhaxi, a villager from Changtang. He works at the Changtang Nationa Nature Reserve(保护区) . The reserve is a safe place for the animals and plants of northwestern Tibet. To Zhaxi, protecting(保护)the wildlife is a way of life. "We're not trying to save the animals." he says. "Actually, we're trying to save ourselves."
In the 1980s and 1990s the population of Tibetan antelopes dropped by more than 50 Percent. Hunters were shooting antelopes to make money. Their Living places were becoming smaller as new roads and railways were built.
In order to save Tibetan antelopes, the Chinese government placed them under national protection. Zhaxi and Volunteers watched over the antelopes day and night to keep them safe from attacks. Bridges and gates were added to let the antelopes move easily and keep them safe from cars and trains.
The measures were effective. The antelope population has recovered and in June 2015, the Tibetan antelope was removed from the endangered species list(濒危物种名单). The government, however, does not intend to stop the protection programmes, since the threats(威胁) to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared. Only when we learn to exist in harmony with nature can we stop being a threat to wildlife and to our planet.
1. Why does the author stay “here” according to the passage?| A．To experience hike with thin air. | B．To observe Tibetan antelopes. |
| C．To picture clouds on the plain. | D．To admire snow-covered mountains. |
| A．Protecting the animals can make money. |
| B．Protecting the animals is saving ourselves. |
| C．He is not fond of protecting the animals. |
| D．The reserve is only safe for wild animals. |
| A．Why hunters hunt Tibetan antelopes. |
| B．Why antelopes’ living places changed. |
| C．Why antelopes’ number dropped greatly. |
| D．Why the 1980s and the 1990s are unusual. |
| A．Deleted. | B．changed. | C．migrated. | D．recognized. |
| A．They will be over-populated. |
| B．They will be a threat to man and other wildlife. |
| C．They will be on the endangered species list again. |
| D．They will be in harmony with nature and humans. |
9 . When you think of the Arctic, you imagine an icy land of pure white snow, which is considered to be the last really clean place
The researchers state that microplastics in snow suggest that microplastics may be in the air that we
Previous research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans,
