1 . It may come as a surprise that the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, especially when it comes to carbon emissions and water usage.
Actually, there are other ways to practice sustainable habits. Of course, the best way to limit waste is to not buy any new clothes. For example, saving up to buy more sustainable clothes and then wearing them for many years is healthier for the environment and your wallet.
With ever-changing fashion trends moving at breakneck speed, consumers are easily persuaded into buying latest designs to stay stylish and sustainable.
A.The reality is frightening. |
B.However, trend is hard to keep up. |
C.They have no choice but to follow suit. |
D.They can’t, and moreover, they don’t have to. |
E.A similar resolution is to own some basic pieces. |
F.Sustainable fashion has been on the rise in recent years. |
G.Industrial development is pursued at the price of pollution. |
2 . From airplanes to apartments, most spaces are now designed with sound-absorbing materials that help decrease various sounds of everyday life. But most of the sound-absorbing materials that can cancel out human voices, traffic noise and music are made from plastic foams (泡沫) that aren’t easily recycled or degraded. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering have created a biodegradable film (薄膜) obtained from seaweed, which effectively absorbs sounds in this range.
Controlling and optimizing the way sound moves throughout a room is the key to creating functional spaces. Foam sound-absorbing panels are a common solution, and they come in a variety of materials and thicknesses tailored to specific sound requirements. Most of these foams, however, are made from a type of plastic material and other chemical substances that are obtained from natural oil or petrol. To avoid petrochemicals, researchers have explored more renewable sources and biodegradable sound-absorbing alternatives. But many current options are made from plant fibers that don’t effectively decrease noises in the most useful range of sound frequencies, or they are too thick or difficult to produce. So, Chindam’s team wanted to develop a biodegradable material from a plant, which would be simple to produce and could absorb a range of sounds.
The team created films of agar (琼脂), a material that comes from seaweed, along with other additives developed from plants and varied the thickness of the films. After running the materials through a battery of tests, the researchers measured how well the films reduced sound across a range of frequencies. To do this, the team created a sound tube in which a speaker is placed at one end, and the test film is fitted over the other end. Microphones in the middle of the tube measured the amount of sound sent by the speaker and the amount of sound reflected off the film. These experiments showed that the films with many small holes made with the highest concentrations of agar had the greatest sound-absorbing qualities and performed similarly to traditional sound-absorbing foams. The researchers plan to explore ways to change the agar films to give them other desirable properties, such as flame resistance, and will explore other biologically obtained film materials.
1. What is the disadvantage of plastic foams?A.They take up, too much space. | B.They cannot absorb sounds effectively. |
C.They cannot meet specific sound requirements. | D.They have difficulty achieving sustainable use. |
A.One obtained easily and effectively. | B.One produced toughly and tiredly. |
C.One developed from petrochemicals. | D.One made from plant fibers. |
A.The purpose of film research. | B.A series of tests on the new material. |
C.A tool of measuring the film thickness. | D.The difficulty of searching the new material. |
A.An Eco-friendly Sound-absorbing Material from Seaweed |
B.Plastic Foams: the Worst Choice of Absorbing Sounds |
C.A Tube for Measuring the Amount of Underwater Sounds |
D.Seaweed: a Better Sound-absorbing Underwater Plant |
3 . Cities are diverse ecosystems. In addition to visitors from the wild, a large number of species share our urban areas. As our cities spread, we need to think about what it is like for other species to have human neighbors.
Cities are built for humans.
There are also structures built with the aim of bringing wildlife into the city. The Beijing Olympic Forest Park is a good example. The park used native plants and created open, natural spaces for wildlife. The result is a zone in Beijing with over 160 species of birds. In many ways, the park is the opposite of a zoo.
If we learn to share our space, we can become better neighbors to the wildlife around us.
A.They would feed water plants. |
B.Our actions sometimes help other species. |
C.If we do not, more species will become extinct. |
D.Now, they have come to value their winged neighbors. |
E.Therefore, they do not always provide suitable habitats for wildlife. |
F.Instead of being kept in cages, wildlife can move about freely. |
G.It’s intended to protect birds and fight pollution at the same time. |
4 . Many animals move from one place to another at certain times of the year. This
Every autumn, millions of these beautiful insects with fine black and orange wings
A team of scientists led by Professor Eli Shlizerman at the University of Washington has now found the answer. They have found out that the monarch is able to
The
The
A.symbolic | B.former | C.occasional | D.annual |
A.live long | B.return to the wild | C.protect themselves | D.seek a partner |
A.positive | B.wonderful | C.professional | D.frightening |
A.begin | B.break | C.continue | D.end |
A.heard | B.worried | C.knew | D.ignored |
A.notice | B.tell | C.guess | D.illustrate |
A.height | B.driection | C.brightness | D.position |
A.news | B.advice | C.information | D.evidence |
A.determine | B.consider | C.acquire | D.approach |
A.Eventually | B.Currently | C.Obviously | D.Originally |
A.solution | B.reaction | C.preference | D.response |
A.increased | B.exploded | C.changed | D.crashed |
A.history | B.belief | C.activity | D.experience |
A.improving | B.destroying | C.decorating | D.monitoring |
A.take away | B.cut down | C.pickup | D.put together |
A.comment | B.research | C.effect | D.discussion |
A.creature | B.experiment | C.opinion | D.function |
A.recognise | B.design | C.record | D.remember |
A.look at | B.play with | C.feed on | D.focus on |
A.stay | B.suffer | C.exist | D.survive |
5 . For the past 13 years, Martin Burrows has been working as a long-distance truck driver. Spending up to five nights a week on the road can be a lonely business, leaving him with plenty of time to notice his surroundings. “I kept seeing more rubbish everywhere and it was getting on my nerves. I decided I had to do something about it,” he says. One day, he stopped his vehicle, took out a trash bag and started picking up the garbage. The satisfaction after clearing a small area was remarkable.
Before his time on the road, Burrows spent over two decades in the military as a vehicle driver. His service saw him stationed throughout Europe and also on tours in Afghanistan. After returning to civilian life, he was diagnosed with PTSD (创伤后应激障碍) and had a mental health crisis in 2017. His involvement in fundraising for Help for Heroes led him to meet a man who used model-building as a distraction from PTSD. Burrows realized that his act of roadside cleanup had a similar calming effect on his mental well-being.
By 2019, Burrows had begun using his free time on the road to regularly clean up garbage. A passerby encouraged him to set up a Facebook group, which he called Truckers Cleaning Up Britain. “I was worried I’d be the laughing stock of my town for putting videos and photos up of me cleaning but people started to join,” he says. “I was amazed. The local council stepped in and gave me litter-picking supplies and we’re up to almost 3,000 members now.”
Since truckers are so often on the move, the Facebook page acts as a means of raising awareness rather than a platform for organizing cleanups. Burrows expressed his intention to continue the cleanup efforts as long as his physical condition allowed, as he still found joy in the process.
1. What initially caused Burrows to pick up roadside garbage?A.He wanted to kill time by picking up litter. |
B.He aimed to raise fund for soldiers with PTSD. |
C.He felt annoyed to see the increasing rubbish. |
D.He received the assignment from his employer. |
A.It resulted in his embarrassment. | B.It increased his sense of isolation. |
C.It worsened his stress and anxiety. | D.It brought him comfort and relief. |
A.He feared being teased for his action. |
B.He was lacking in advanced cleanup tools. |
C.He was unsure about the group’s development. |
D.He worried about the local council’s disapproval. |
A.A Joyful Volunteer Experience | B.A Trucker’s Cleanup Initiative |
C.A Fighting Hero against PTSD | D.A Platform for Environmentalists |
6 . When most kids go to the beach, they’re too focused on making sandcastles and splashing around to notice litter, but several years ago, for 7-year-old Cash Daniels, noticing a plastic straw sparked a lifelong passion for saving the planet.
Cash, who is now known as the “conservation kid”, has always loved nature. He grew up fishing along the Chattanooga River, after all! But once he learned that 80 percent of all trash from land and rivers ends up in the ocean, he couldn’t sit back.
He started with cleanups along the river, something that quickly went from a family affair to a community effort with volunteers and neighbors. In 2019, Cash, together with a Canadian conservationist, Ella Galaski-Rossen, started a nonprofit called the Cleanup Kids. Despite living in different countries, they managed to create educational videos on their YouTube channel. “We hope to be a really big nonprofit that eliminates plastic in the U. S. and Canada,” Cash said. “We want to inform kids and adults in the landlocked states on how their actions are connected to the water and the ocean,” Cash said.
Cash was selected as one of America’s top 10 youth volunteers of 2021 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. He also earned the title of National Honoree, where he received a$5,000 grant to go to a nonprofit of his choice, and he became the first person to win the Youth Conservationist Award two years in a row from the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
“I want to travel the world, teach others, and help them feel connected to the ocean. Because if you are connected to the ocean-if you love it and what lives in it—you’ll want to protect it,” he said. “This is my fun, and it becomes more fun with every new discovery.”
1. Which can replace the underlined words “sit back” in paragraph 2?A.Fall asleep. | B.Lose heart. |
C.Turn a blind eye. | D.Lend a hand. |
A.To recycle waste plastics. |
B.To make instructive videos. |
C.To spread marine knowledge. |
D.To appeal for ocean protection. |
A.Sympathetic and devoted. | B.Initiative and talented. |
C.Ambitious and humorous. | D.Determined and modest. |
A.Passion fuels dreams. |
B.Great minds think alike. |
C.Helping others is of great fun. |
D.Actions speak louder than words. |
注意:1. 词数80左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Be Energy Smart
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 珍稀动物的重要性;
2. 保护珍稀动物的倡议。
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。
Protecting Rare Animals
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Damon Carson calls himself a matchmaker (媒人) of the never-ending waste of American society, trying not to pair people with people, but things with people.
In the late 1990s, Carson was on break from business school in Vail, Colorado, when he discovered the vast world of waste. He began thinking about creating a secondhand store that would sell old materials and keep them out of being wasted. As a result, in 2010, his company, Repurposed Materials appeared.
For nearly ten years, his company, Repurposed Materials, has not been looking to recycle the waste he gets — breaking it down to make something new — but rather finding new homes for thrown-away goods in their original forms.
Carson, a husband and father of three adult children, is far from wasteful. Frugal is how he describes himself. The clothes he’s wearing all came from a charity shop; his truck was bought with 290, 000 kilometers driven.
“Why break something down, why melt something down, if it still has value?” he asks. An old oil-field pipe might be melted down and turned into a car bumper, but it still takes an amount of power to finish the complete change. Why not leave it as a steel pipe? Why not turn it into a fence post on a farm? The only cost is transport.
American industrial facilities create and throw about 7.6 billion tons of unwanted industrial materials every year. For the moment, Carson’s unique business finds new lives for millions of kilograms of industrial waste every year.
1. What is paragraph two mainly about?A.Carson’s school lessons. |
B.Carson’s journey to Colorado. |
C.The start of Carson’s business. |
D.The serious waste of materials. |
A.Marketing wastes to people in need. |
B.Breaking down the wasted goods. |
C.Manufacturing industrial products. |
D.Recycling the thrown-away stuffs. |
A.Economical. | B.Poetic. | C.Tough. | D.Risky. |
A.Well began, half done. |
B.Innovative thinking counts. |
C.One is never too old to learn. |
D.Hard work will pay back. |
10 . Do you know that forests cover an estimated 38 percent of the total land surface of the European Union (EU)? And that these extensive areas covered with trees and underbrush need to be protected so they can continue to do good for the environment for the next generation? Now the EU has just come up with is ambitious new “Forest Strategy”.
Forests can fight against climate change and prevent biodiversity loss They can reduce the impacts of climate change by cooling down cities, protecting us from heavy flooding, and reducing drought impacts. They are valuable ecosystems that are home to a major part of the world’s plants and animals. But forests also improve our health and well-being through functions like water regulation, erosion (侵蚀) control and air purification. And they serve as ideal settings for “recreation, relaxation and learning, as well as securing livelihoods”.
This new European- wide forest conservation vision takes in an impressive commitment to plant a minimum of three billion additional trees over the next decade. This is an ambitious plan but a long overdue one because forests have been battered by severe weather and human impacts, particularly the demand for wood over the last ten years. As the EU Observer puts it,“extreme weather events and the increasing demand for forest services and products, driven by wood-based bioenergy and international trade, have accelerated tree cover loss in the last decade.”
This EU strategy takes into account the complexity of ; forest sustainability. Observation, knowledge exchange, ongoing monitoring and close cooperation between public and private organizations and individuals are also key elements in this new continent- wide forest protection strategy.
This is a future- focused blueprint, designed to protect these precious green areas, and ensure that the trees and greenery are here to stay!
1. Why are two questions raised in the beginning?A.To tell us the EU’s forest coverage. |
B.To call on people to protect forests. |
C.To explain the reason for the strategy. |
D.To encourage more forest expansion. |
A.The urgency of the strategy. |
B.The importance of forests. |
C.The background of the strategy. |
D.The environmental role of forests. |
A.Preserved. | B.Controlled. | C.Removed. | D.Damaged. |
A.Planting Trees for the World |
B.Irreplaceable Benefits of Forests |
C.EU’s Action to Protect the Earth |
D.Taking Forests into the Future |