1 . Before the year has even come to a close, climate experts are certain that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history.
On Dec. 6, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) — part of the European Union's space program — revealed that this year's average global temperatures have been 2.6℉ (1.46°C ) higher than temperatures in preindustrial times and 0.2°F (0.13°C) higher than January to November in 2016. These “extraordinary” temperatures mean that 2023will be “the warmest year in recorded history,” C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement.
The researchers note that this year's record heat was partly caused by the latest El Nino event — a phenomenon where warmer water near the equator triggers warmer global air temperatures — that began in June. Some other experts have suggested that the January2022 eruption of Tonga's underwater volcano, which pumped record levels of water vapor into the atmosphere, may also be partly responsible.
Despite these factors, the major cause of climbing temperatures is global warming caused by runaway greenhouse gas emissions, which, noted in a C3S statement, have trapped more than 25 billion atomic bombs' worth of energy in our atmosphere over the last 50 years. And still worse, the global carbon emissions have reached a new high this year, according to scientists at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) On Dec 4.
The effects of global warming are becoming more obvious. In 2023, research revealed that climate change is causing major US cities to sink and more than half of the world's largest lakes and reservoirs to shrink. Studies also predicted that the Gulf Stream, which plays a vital role in ocean circulation, could collapse by as early as 2025, and that rising sea levels could swamp the U S coastline by 2050.
However, scientists say that we still have time to prevent further disaster. Leading climate change expert Michael Mann, from the University of Pennsylvania, recently wrote that “we can still stop the worst effects of climate change” if we stop emitting greenhouse gases as soon as possible.
1. What's the purpose of the text?A.To report the recorded hottest year. |
B.To present findings of a research. |
C.To analyze the causes of climate change. |
D.To warn of the coming natural disaster. |
A.Eruption of an underwater volcano. |
B.Greenhouse gas emissions. |
C.Collapse of the Gulf Stream. |
D.The latest El Nino event. |
A.Scientists' predictions of the future. |
B.The threat of rising sea levels to the U.S. |
C.The effects of climate change. |
D.Different opinions on global warming. |
A.Confused. | B.Worried. | C.Pessimistic. | D.Hopeful. |
2 . The students stand on a pier (码头) over the Harlem River in New York City. They stare down into the brown water. Their teacher, Mr. Rodman, pulls a long rope out of the river. Fastened to the end of the rope is a metal cage and inside are oysters (牡蛎). Taking turns, the students measure all the oysters, and then compare notes. The biggest oyster is over 2 inches long, much bigger than a healthy size for its age! They also measure the level of oxygen. As more oysters grow, the water should become clearer and hold more oxygen. Also, other animals should move in.
Oysters are soft-bodied animals, and share the underwater community with plants, fish, and other life. They are food for crabs and other animals. As new oysters grow, they attach their shells to older ones,forming big reefs with many small spaces where other animals live. Oysters eat algae (藻类). If algae grow too fast,they can decrease oxygen from the water-and even fish need oxygen to breathe!
But what happened to the oysters 100years ago in New York Harbor? Before then, lots of oysters lived in these waters. They were shipped to restaurants around the world. By the early 1900s, people were eating them faster than they could grow. Pollution was pouring into the waters. The harbor became seriously polluted. Since the 1970s, new laws have helped reduce poisonous waste. Some fish started to swim through again. But oysters were still missing-until recently.
The Billion Oyster Project began in 2014 to help bring oysters back to New York Harbor. The project has recruited (招募) more than 6,500 students at more than 100 middle schools and high schools to help grow, distribute, and study the oysters.
Finally, the students put the oysters back in the cage. Mr. Rodman lowers the cage into the river. In a few months, they will check the cage again. When the oysters are big enough, they will be moved to join a healthy reef in the middle of the harbor.
1. Why do students come to the pier over the Harlem River?A.To do research. | B.To go fishing. |
C.To buy oysters. | D.To clean up the river. |
A.What oysters are like. | B.How oysters get fed. |
C.Why algae grow fast. | D.What role oysters play. |
A.People’s love of eating oysters boosted their numbers. |
B.More oysters than before lived in waters in the 1900s. |
C.Polluted water was partly to blame for the missing of oysters. |
D.New laws in the 1970s were crucial to oysters’ recovery. |
A.Oysters Raised in New York Harbor |
B.The Harlem River Polluted Heavily |
C.Nature’s Helpful Crew Brought Back |
D.Teacher Devoted to Wildlife Protection |
3 . Leave-No-Trace Camping
For those of us who love spending time in the great outdoors, wild spaces are very special. These are places we visit to recharge, or to fill our hearts with natural beauty.
Its principles are to treat the wilderness the way a decent visitor would and leave everything just as you found it, with no evidence that you passed through.
You can carry out these ideals in a number of ways. Begin by packing out all your litter. Whenever you go camping, take an empty trash bag with you and put all garbage into the bag. In addition, try not to damage vegetation.
It’s also important that you should not take things away from the wilderness. Rocks, plants, flowers and seashells are all part of the natural landscape.
Leave-No-Trace camping is about being respectful and thoughtful. It’s about honoring the natural world and the creatures that live in it. If you love seeing an untouched mountain stream or a lovely field of wildflowers, then you’ve already taken the first step.
A.This means not stepping into a wild animal’s space. |
B.This is also called “low impact” or “no impact” camping. |
C.Once taken away, they won’t be there for others to enjoy. |
D.An increasing number of people take up camping in the wilderness. |
E.When you put up your tent, try to find a place that’s already bare of plants. |
F.We hate to see them littered with rubbish or any reminders of previous visitors. |
G.Follow these basic practices and you can be models of the Leave-No-Trace philosophy. |
4 . Introduced species have a bad reputation. It has been believed that the species mix in a particular place should remain as unchanged as possible. But this is just an opinion. Other opinions are possible. A study published recently by Dov Sax of Brown University, thus asks how the benefits of introduced species might be better assessed, so that opinions can be more informed. Specifically, he identifies several aspects for that.
Initially, whether introduced species provide direct human advantage is taken into account. Dr. Sax and his colleagues ignored crops, since their benefits are obvious. But they included transplanted grass species that have gone wild,yet provide grazing(牧草)for domestic animals, and introduced forest trees that produce wood for construction.
Another factor is their possible benefit to the ecosystem into which the introduction has happened. Such introduction is sometimes made to reduce the risk of a localised species becoming extinct. Pyne’s ground plum(李子),native to a handful of sites in the central basins of Tennessee but now transplanted to others, falls into this category.
The last value is experienced on an emotional rather than a practical level. Lots of people feel good about native wildlife, which is generally the main motive for its conservation. But that feel-good factor can extend to introduced species as well. Such value can cut both ways, however. For example, ring-necked parakeets, an Asian and African species, have been spreading through Britain for several decades. Some find them a colourful addition to the local wildlife, others a noisy competitor for native birds.
In light of their analysis, Dr. Sax and his team therefore suggest that researchers studying introduced species should in future create a clear distinction in their studies between changes that have happened and judgments about the value of those changes. In addition, when making those judgments, they should acknowledge all types of values, rather than focusing narrowly on one or two of them.
That done, many species will surely still be accused of possible damage. But others, badly thought of in the past, may not.
1. What is Dr. Sax’s study aimed to do?A.Kecp track of introduced species. |
B.Get introduced species fully understood. |
C.Compare opinions on introduced species. |
D.Identify consequences of introducing species. |
A.To provide graze for local animals. |
B.To produce wood for construction. |
C.To build a new local ecosystem. |
D.To save local species from dying out. |
A.They don’t care about it. |
B.They consider it acceptable. |
C.They can’t put up with it. |
D.They hold divided opinions on it. |
A.Focusing on main values. |
B.Evaluating evident changes. |
C.Analyzing previous researches. |
D.Presenting all-round assessments. |
5 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
1.“绿色生活”的意义和方式;2.发出号召。
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。
Ladies and gentlemen,
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7 . Nowadays, with the popularity of modern traffic and modern communication means, our world is becoming much smaller. Thus our life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but meanwhile it has brought new problems, the biggest one of which is pollution. For a long time ever since, man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution.
To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. What is the reason for the world to become much smaller?A.The rise in pollution. | B.Science and technology development. |
C.The earth is being polluted day and night. | D.The earth is blown away by the wind every year. |
A.Air pollution. | B.Rubbish pollution. |
C.Noise pollution. | D.Water pollution. |
A.It makes much noise. | B.It makes us angry more easily. |
C.It makes our rivers and lakes dirty. | D.It’s bad for all living things in the world. |
A.Supportive. | B.Critical. | C.Doubtful. | D.Indifferent. |
8 . Residents of a Wiltshire town have created a vertical living garden to fight pollution. The wall of plants has been
Stephanie Edwards
The wall had been in the
Alex Kay said the living wall had a number of beneficial
James Sullivan-Tail your, who owns the nearby Swan Hotel, said he was really
A.limited | B.moved | C.attached | D.pulled |
A.explained | B.formed | C.tested | D.predicted |
A.action | B.trouble | C.shape | D.production |
A.filled | B.shared | C.brought | D.kept |
A.changing | B.growing | C.marketing | D.working |
A.benefits | B.causes | C.meanings | D.results |
A.waiting | B.planning | C.painting | D.destroying |
A.connected to | B.mixed with | C.made up of | D.broken up into |
A.aspects | B.profits | C.views | D.examples |
A.make | B.help | C.leave | D.find |
A.life | B.soil | C.water | D.air |
A.business | B.agriculture | C.technology | D.communication |
A.familiar | B.careful | C.patient | D.pleased |
A.designing | B.creating | C.describing | D.copying |
A.abnormal | B.strange | C.unique | D.common |
Earth Day
Denis Hayes, a young activist
The first Earth Day was effective at raising
10 . Plastic fishing nets, the so-called ghost nets, abandoned yearly in the sea—about 1 million tons—are more than just rubbish; they’re a killer. Fish, sea birds, and turtles get caught in the netting and die, with more species at risk.
Much shocked at this, Pranveer Singh Rathore, a materials-science engineer and materials R&D manager at Samsung, and his team set themselves the task of giving new life to the deadly nets. Last month, Samsung revealed a new line of Galaxy products made in part from recycled plastic fishing nets for the first time. The company estimates this year alone it can recycle over 50 tons of ocean-bound plastic into the key components that will go into its smartphones, tablets, and computers, thus taking a bite out of the global ghost nets problem.
It’s no small task to give waste fishing nets a second act. The nets are typically made of a substance called nylon which tends to dramatically degrade (降解) the longer it sits in the ocean and is exposed to the sun. “This makes it nearly impossible to use abandoned fishing nets directly,” Rathore explains. Besides, high-performance smartphone, tablet, or PC has to be waterproof and can survive severe weather. The nylon in the fishing nets falls far short of that level of durability (耐用).
To deal with that problem, Samsung last summer teamed up with two partners: one to collect and transform the nets into tiny nylon pellets (颗粒) while the other to strengthen their toughness and durability. The end result: The partners hit upon an eco-friendly and high-performance plastic material that’s being used to build the component parts for its latest line of products. For example, two parts of the Galaxy S22 mobile phone—the key bracket and the inner cover—are made of these fishing-net plastic materials. Samsung aims to use even more upcycled materials in future product lines.
“That’s the hope for the globe and our mission,” Rathore smiles.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?A.Rubbish in the sea. | B.Recycling the deadly nets. |
C.Ocean species’ extinction. | D.Ghost nets’ threat to sea life. |
A.The low level of durability of nylon. | B.The second act of waste fishing nets. |
C.The great difficulty in reusing ghost nets. | D.The positive comment on Samsung’s products. |
A.They are made from tiny nylon pellets. | B.They put an end to the problem of fishing nets. |
C.They can stand up to water and severe weather. | D.They contain materials recycled from ghost nets. |
A.It makes plastic easier to break down. | B.It marks the shift of Samsung’s mission. |
C.It protects the planet from choking on plastic. | D.It raises public awareness of ocean exploration. |