1 . A snow leopard stared down from a steep rock high in the peaks of Mongolia. She was on the lookout for a snack. Noticing a wild goat below, the snow leopard rocketed down the mountainside. The wild goat struggled to escape. But with one 30-foot leap, the cat caught up. Seconds later, she was secured her meal and looked for a place to enjoy it.
These endangered cats are nearly impossible to see. Their spotted coats act as invisible cloaks(披风)by mixing into the rocky mountains of the 12 Central Asian countries where the cats live. The mountains the snow leopards call home are rough and extremely cold in the winter. But these cats have some amazing body parts that make living in the area no big deal. In addition to hiding them, a snow leopard’s soft, thick fur keeps it warm in the bitter cold.
Few humans have seen snow leopards in real life, but hunting scenes like the one above have been recorded on video. Snow leopard experts need to gather more information about the secretive cats’ lives to help protect them. To do that, researches use high-tech tools to spy on the shy animals. They gently trap the wild cats to put on satellite radio collars to know where the cats wander.
Even though snow leopards live in some of the most rugged mountains on Earth, people pose the biggest threat to their survival. Poachers(盗猎者)can sell a snow leopard’s hide and bones for thousands of dollars. Sheepherders(牧羊人)often kill any snow leopard that attacks their sheep. Hunters target goats, wild sheep, and other animals for food-removing important snow leopard food. The more scientists can learn about snow leopards, the better they can protect these rarely seen cats from humans who harm them.
1. What’s the function of the first paragraph?A.To lead to the theme of the passage. |
B.To describe how snow leopards hunt. |
C.To show the main food of snow leopards |
D.To show snow leopards have a good ability of adaption |
A.They don't go out in winter. |
B.They have unique body characters. |
C.Their living regions are large enough. |
D.Their thick fur can help camouflage (伪装). |
A.Spending more time searching for them. |
B.Trapping snow leopards to examine them. |
C.Using advanced technology to track them. |
D.Surfing the internet to get more information. |
A.The process of researchers’ job. |
B.The snow leopards, awful living conditions. |
C.The threat that humans pose to snow leopards. |
D.The reasons why some persons kill snow leopards. |
1.参赛对象;
2.比赛情况;
3.比赛意义。
注意:
1.写作词数应为80 左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
An English Speech Contest on Ocean Exploration
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . With greater climate catastrophe (气候突变) on Earth, it is natural for us to make every effort to stop the potential floods, snowstorms, and alarming reports from scientists. For many of us (myself included), part of that means running out to buy reusable straws, organic cleaners, and packaging-free products.
However, before you rejoice in “green” purchases, take a second to consider the results of a new study from Arizona University. By comparing the shopping habits, mental health and environmental impact of young people, the researchers reaffirmed a principle: Buying less beats buying “green” stuff without effort. And that is true whether you are looking at the impact that your purchases have on the Earth or on your own happiness.
It should not come as a shock that simply consuming less is better for the planet. After all, every new item a factory yields requires some resources to produce. Take plastic bag bans for instance. If your city is getting rid of single-use shopping bags, it can be tempting to pay for a fashionable organic cotton bag hanging in the check-out line of your local supermarket. However, experts insist that growing cotton is actually no better for the Earth than producing the conventional plastic bags. Your best bet for carrying your groceries if you care about sustainability? Any bag you already own. This is true of many kinds of “green” products.
It is not just the Earth that will be happier if you buy less. You will feel more contented too, according to the new study. “People believe that they might well be self-satisfied about becoming environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn't seem to be that way”, said the lead researcher Sabrina Helm. “Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, but we don't see that with green consumption.”
“Owning every new green product on the market might make you feel contented, but if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better,” said Helm.
1. Why does the writer mention green shopping habits?A.To call on a green lifestyle. | B.To praise people's green efforts. |
C.To introduce a social trend. | D.To present a half true “green truth”. |
A.The plastic bag bans are of no effect. |
B.Using any bag you have is the best bet. |
C.Reduced consumption is better for the Earth. |
D.Growing cotton is actually far worse for the Earth. |
A.The sense of achievement. | B.The sense of happiness. |
C.Psychological pressure. | D.Environmental awareness. |
A.Less is More | B.The Greener, The Happier |
C.Happiness Guarantee | D.What Are Really Green Products? |
Dongying city in China’s Shandong Province has witnessed(目睹) ecological improvements in the Yellow River Delta, thanks to various
Years ago, the wetlands there
Dongying has been adopting a comprehensive wetlands restoration model by giving high
Last year, Dongying built a real-time monitoring network for bird species at the nature reserve, which helps ensure that birds are free
5 . Commercial airlines alone contribute around 3% of total global carbon emissions. But the industry is actively looking for green solutions in the form of sustainable jet fuel, and in one case, that fuel may have had a previous life as your household food waste. In a study released this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers detail a method of transforming food waste into sustainable jet fuel that can be used in existing engines.
Biomass (生物质), such as manure (粪便) and food waste, can be transformed into bio-fuels, which are renewable liquid fuels made from organic matter. Derek Vardon, a senior research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), says that their fuel worked as a mixture of 90% conventional petrol jet fuel and 10% alternative jet fuel required by the industry currently. They also show they could push it to a 70/30 mixture, which will be possible in real world with more time and testing.
Major airline companies are eager to get involved in sustainable aviation fuel because some sustainable solutions, such as battery-operated commercial planes, just aren’t possible yet with current battery technology. A battery-powered plane would be too heavy to fly long distances, so fuel that works in the same way as the fuel we have is a simpler way to trade out emission-heavy fossil fuels.
Vardon says that because the wet waste used in the process would normally go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and break down to release greenhouse gases, the process of making and using sustainable aviation fuel could actually have a negative carbon footprint when scaled up.
Commercial airlines are on board to find an affordable and sustainable solution to the carbon-intensive process of air travel. Airlines are looking to hit aggressive sustainability goals by 2050, including decreasing net carbon dioxide emissions by 50%.
1. Which of the following is used for sustainable airline power?A.Fossil fuel. | B.Liquid fuel. | C.Battery power. | D.Biomass. |
A.Fuel-powered planes are likely to travel lighter and farther. |
B.Biofuel is environmentally friendly and sustainable. |
C.It’s convenient to create the proper fuel mixture. |
D.Biofuel proves less costly and easier to produce. |
A.taking off. | B.holding a meeting. |
C.participating in. | D.appearing on stage. |
A.Alternative Energy to Fossil Fuel. |
B.How to Get Fossil Fuel Sustainable. |
C.Changing Food Waste into Airplane Fuel. |
D.How to Decrease Carbon Dioxide Emissions. |
6 . An impressive invention made by a 17-year-old teenager, called Anna Du, is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean.
While walking along her local beaches in Massachusetts, the young student began collecting waste plastic bags and bottles. But what she noticed was a large number of tiny pieces of plastic or microplastics that were impossible to pick up. At just 12 years old, Du set out to solve the problem. After testing a few prototypes(原型)in her backyard, she invented a remotely operated vehicle that uses the infrared camera(红外摄像机)to detect microplastics on the ocean floor. More recently, Du has also created a simulation(模拟)model that uses artificial intelligence to predict where microplastics are located.
Du’s robot invention has earned her awards at top science fairs in the US, and she’s now a nationally recognized advocate for microplastic awareness and pollution prevention. “When I first started doing science fairs, I had no idea that a young girl without lots of money and just a little advanced engineering knowledge could make a difference in the world. I’ve learned that I truly love working on a problem that’s so much larger than me,” Du said.
Du has also released a new book to help spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics but also about the ways to relieve the problem. Titled Microplastics &Me, the book follows Du’s own story of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, the young girl alerts her readers to the threat of microplastic pollution and urges them to care about the environment. The book hopes to encourage young students to get into science, technology, engineering and math(STEM)subjects and to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers. What’s more, Du has even raised more than $7,000 to distribute the book free to kids and libraries in high-need communities.
1. What inspired Du to make the invention?A.There was too much rubbish along the beaches. | B.The plastics were too small to collect by hand. |
C.The sea was polluted seriously. | D.She was interested in AI. |
A.She has a spirit of challenge. | B.She is too poor to make a difference. |
C.She doesn’t study hard in engineering. | D.She wins international recognition. |
A.Innovation. | B.Voice. | C.Culture. | D.Art. |
A.To inspire readers to share their stories. |
B.To raise the awareness of microplastics pollution. |
C.To encourage high schools to offer STEM subjects. |
D.To collect money for kids in high-need communities. |
7 . Thanks to its harsh environment, Antarctica remained largely untouched by humans for many millennia (千年), allowing a thriving ecosystem to evolve. However, since the 1990s, the last true wilderness on the planet is becoming an increasingly popular destination for adventure-seeking tourists. Now, a new study declares that the visitors may be leaving behind harmful bacteria which could devastate all of the area’s native bird population.
Humans can infect animals with illnesses such as the flu. Researchers, however, believed that the Antarctic animals were immune to the danger due to the continent’s extreme weather. However, microbiologist Marta Cerda-Cuellar was not convinced. She and some colleagues decided to examine waste samples from Antarctic birds for evidence of human bacteria. To ensure the waste was not polluted, the scientists had to collect it from the birds themselves.
The results of their study revealed the presence of several types of human bacteria in the bird waste. This included a common strain (品种) of bacteria that causes food poisoning in humans. The researchers say the bacteria strains were resistant to commonly-used human antibiotics, indicating they were brought in by the visitors, rather than migratory birds.
“These strains, which are a common cause for infections in humans and livestock, do not usually cause death outbreaks in wild animals,” says Gonzalez Solis. “However, the emerging of invasive pathogens (病原体) that arrive to highly sensitive populations could have severe consequences and cause the local collapse and extinction of some populations.” The researcher also fears the presence of these bugs could foreshadow (预示) the arrival of other, more deadly, pathogens as the number of tourists people increases.
Experts believe the only way to prevent the mass destruction of the birds is to impose stricter regulations or, at least, put the ones already in place into effect. For example, while the Antarctica Treaty requires visitors to carry their waste back home to safeguard the pristine (原始纯净的) environment, the regulation is rarely enforced. Fortunately, nowadays some officials are taking steps to save the vulnerable birds before it’s too late.
1. What problem is Antarctica facing according to Paragraphs 1&2?A.The increasing number of birds. | B.The worsening wilderness. |
C.The replaced native bird species. | D.The spread of infectious illnesses. |
A.Reject. | B.Protect. | C.Destroy. | D.Benefit. |
A.There were several types of human bacteria in them. |
B.Migratory birds brought these strains of bacteria in. |
C.The strains usually cause death outbreaks in wild animals. |
D.The invasive pathogens will become more deadly ones soon. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Doubtful. | C.Ambiguous. | D.Optimistic. |
8 . A recent report revealed that, in the US alone, 27 million tons of plastic ended up in landfills in 2018, but only 3.1 millon tons were recycled. Wordwide the numbers are similarly bad, with just 9% of plastic being recycled. The statistics are even worse for certain types of plastic. For example, out of 80,000 tons of polystyrene (聚苯乙烯) containers generated in the United States, only a small amount (less than 5,000 tons) was recycled.
Now, researchers at The University of Queensland and have found a species of wom with an appetite for polystyrene could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass scale. The superworm can eat through polystyrene, thanks to a bacterial enzyme (酶) in their gut. To study how superworms react to purely plastic food, researchers broke up l35 of the creatures into three teams: one was fed only wheat bran(麸皮), another was fed only plastics, and the third was given nothing.
“We found the bran-fed worms have been significantly healthier than the plastic-fed or starved worms, more than doubling their weight over the three weeks they have been monitored. Though the plastic-fed worms made less impressive gains, they still put on more weight than the starved worms,” Dr. Rinke said. “This suggests the worms can get energy from plastics, most likely with the help of their gut microbes.”
Researchers used a technique called me a genomics to find several encoded enzymes with the ability to degrade polystyrene. The long-term goal is to engineer enzymes to degrade plastic waste in recycling plants.
“Super worms are like mini recycling plants, eating the polystyrene and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut” Dr. Rinke said. It’s hoped this bio-up cycling will promote plastic waste recycling and reduce landfills. Researchers said they aim to grow the gut bacteria in the lab and further test its ability to degrade polystyrene. Then they can look into how to upscale this process to a level required for an entire recycling plant
1. What problem do the statistics in paragraph 1 indicate?A.Landfills are poorly managed. |
B.It takes a long time for plastic waste to break up. |
C.Many plastic containers are of poor quality. |
D.Plastics are recycle data very low rate. |
A.By collecting data. | B.By introducing a concept. |
C.By making a comparison. | D.By refering to a previous study. |
A.consume | B.breakdown | C.throwaway | D.regulate |
A.Conduct experiments on other worm species. |
B.Improve gut bacteria’s ability to degrade plastics. |
C.Apply the bio-up cycling technology to recycling plants. |
D.Raise super worms on a mass scale to solve plastic pollution. |
9 . When storms come rolling in across the ocean, they struck coastlines with tremendous force. Luckily, for thousands of miles of tropical coastlines, nature has provided a remarkable form of protection: coral reefs.
These colorful wonders are best known for their diversity of life, their plentiful seafood, and their draw to scuba-diving tourists. But they are also astonishingly durable and firm structures, built by tiny animals with calcium carbonate skeletons (碳酸钙骨架), which provide an important service to the coastlines standing behind them — they can absorb up to 97% of wave energy.
A new study estimates that reefs offer protection to up to 5.3 million people and $109 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) per decade. The maps in the study scientists generated are at a much finer resolution (分辨率) than previous analyses, which allows users to view coral reefs with more details and see where reefs provide the highest degree of protection for people, GDP and infrastructure (基础设施). “This level of detail means we can use this information in practical ways, like in the marine spacial planning we do to inform conservation strategies around the world,” says Dr. Spalding, the co-author of the study. More accurate data on where reefs protect people and infrastructure from destructive waves can help improve decision-making about which reefs to protect.
We have already lost half of the world’s reefs, and scientists predict we could lose up to 90% if actions are not taken to protect them. Effective management strategies are vital to supporting reef health and recovery.
Coral reefs are often selected for conservation based on their ecological significance, which may mean they are located in remote places, away from the more direct effects of human pressures like development and pollution. “We are failing ourselves as well as nature if we don’t also consider protecting the reefs that are located closer to humans,” says Spalding. “These are the reefs that protect us and provide for us in abundance. Let’s look after them.”
1. Which function of coral reefs is mainly discussed in the text?A.Nurturing diverse living things. | B.Offering plentiful seafood. |
C.Attracting scuba-diving tourists. | D.Reducing the forces of waves. |
A.Eco-tourism. | B.Urban planning. |
C.Reef recovery. | D.Deep-sea exploration. |
A.Because they protect and provide for humans. |
B.Because they are more beautiful than remote reefs. |
C.Because they are of higher ecological significance. |
D.Because they provide better habitats for marine life. |
A.Coral Reefs as Coastal Defenders | B.The Secrets of Coral Reefs |
C.New Ways of Coral Reef Conservation | D.Coastlines behind Coral Reefs |
10 . Different ways have been applied to dealing with waste paper, specifically used newspapers. Some people put them in the recycling area, while others keep them as wrappers (包装纸). While these are both good measures, a Japanese publishing company had a better idea for their end use.
The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. invented the “Green Newspaper”, which allows people to grow plants with it. This unique newspaper was published on Greenery Day, which is focused on environmental news and made of green paper with seeds placed into it. What makes it even more special is the ink (油墨) used to print words and photos, which is made from plants. The publisher advises readers to tear the used newspaper into small pieces and plant them in a container with soil. They should water them, like they would do for any plant. Within a few weeks, the seeds will grow into plants.
This brilliant concept was invented by Dentsu Inc., one of Japan’s most famous advertising companies, which works with the publishing company on the initiative (倡议). The publisher’s belief is environmental sustainability (持续性). As its mission statement says, “The Mainichi doesn’t take action only through information, but also by solving global issues.” With joint efforts, this initiative has reached the corners of Japan and sold around millions of copies daily. Other such initiatives producing plantable paper are also seen in India and the US.
About 95 million trees are lost for producing newspapers every year. The Internet, the number of whose users stands for 62.5 percent of the population worldwide, has influenced how people read news and the print readership has dropped greatly. However, the reinvention and reimagination of this newspaper will bring about a change in the publishing industry as well as having an environmental influence.
1. Why was the Green Newspaper invented?A.To get newspapers cheaper. | B.To make the most of waste paper. |
C.To improve the printing. | D.To advertise the publishing company. |
A.It uses high-tech materials. | B.It provides energy for seeds. |
C.It’s printed with plant-based ink. | D.It’s published to celebrate Greenery Day. |
A.It’s easier said than done. | B.Everything comes to one who waits. |
C.Many hands make light work. | D.Actions speak louder than words. |
A.About 59 million trees are lost for producing newspapers. |
B.The Internet has changed the way people read news totally. |
C.The popularity of the Internet leads to the fall of the print readership. |
D.The “Green Newspaper” will encourage more people to protect the environment. |