On Monday, millions of people in Ethiopia planted more than 350 million trees in 12 hours. The
According to the United Nations, Ethiopia’s forest coverage was 35% in the early 20th century but it is just above 4% now. The Green Legacy Initiative’s goal is to plant 4 billion trees in Ethiopia this year. So far, about 2.6 billion
2 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2？| A．Social. | B．Native. |
| C．Protected. | D．Threatened. |
| A．National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
| B．Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
| C．Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
| D．Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio－diversity. |
| A．Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
| B．Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
| C．Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
| D．Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
| A．Beating back extinction. | B．Dealing with environmental problems. |
| C．Setting up nature reserves. | D．Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
3 . "When I was 16 years old, I was diving in Greece, but I was disappointed because I saw more plastic bags than fish.” These are the words of Boyan Slat, an engineer who designed the world's first ocean plastic cleanup system.
Every year, more than 8 million tons of plastics end up in our oceans, according to the UN Environment Programme. It is predicted that the weight of ocean plastics will match the weight of all the fish in our oceans by 2050. To prevent this from happening, in 2013 Slat created the Ocean Cleanup, an environmental non¬governmental organization, and put his plan for an ocean cleanup device into action.
After years of research and develop¬ment in the Netherlands, a device called System 001/B successfully started gathering plastics on October 2, 2019. The device uses a 600-meter-long C-shaped tube to gather all the floating rubbish. Unlike other cleanup methods, the system floats freely according to the direction of the waves, which allows waste to flow into and stay within the device. A sea anchor is attached to either end. This slows down the system as it floats through the water and allows the faster-moving rubbish, carried by the waves, to flow into its mouth. System 001/B can also collect waste below the surface using a 3-meter-deep skirt（挡板）attached to the end. After being gathered, the trash will be dragged back to shore by boat and recycled.
Right now, the system operates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area that is 3 times the size of France. Once operational, the Ocean Cleanup expects a full fleet to be able to clear 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 5 years.
"It remains to be seen whether this dream will become a reality, but it is undeniable that humanity must work together to reduce our plastic use and repair the damage our waste has caused," Slat said. "We are starting to see a young generation that gets it and is excited about a sustainable （可持续的）future, but the question still comes down to: Are we going fast enough, and how much damage will have been done before we get there?"
1. The underlined word “match” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_________”.| A．compare | B．equal |
| C．measure | D．cover |
| A．To collect ocean plastic waste. |
| B．To help to invent System 001/B. |
| C．To protect the living environment of fish. |
| D．To do research on the ocean environment. |
| A．It can collect and recycle garbage at the same time. |
| B．It can only gather ocean waste which floats on the water. |
| C．It aims to clear up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. |
| D．It is an ocean-cleaning device which has already been put to use. |
| A．Young generations care less about the environment. |
| B．The future ecology of the oceans is deeply worrying. |
| C．People should work hard to decrease plastic pollution. |
| D．It's quite difficult to repair the damage to the environment. |
4 . Clothing rental is a hot new industry and retailers (零售商) are demanding to get on board in hopes of attracting green shopper.
But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline investigated (调查) this question and concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.
Take shipping, for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.
She writes, ''An item ordered online and then returned can send out 20 kilograms of carbon each way, and increases up to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. By comparison, the carbon impact of a pair of jeans purchased from a physical store and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study by Levi's.''
Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most rental services, this usually means dry cleaning, a high impact and polluting process. All the rental services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene (氯乙烯), a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutant, still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with alternatives, although these aren't great either.
Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called ''share washing'' that makes people waste more precisely because a product or service is shared and thus is regarded as more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this, advertised as ''a way to share rides and limit ear ownership.'' and yet ''it has been proven to discourage walking,bicycling, and public transportation use.''
Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them in the dustbin after a few wears, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us too satisfied. There's an even better step — that's wearing what is already in the closet.
1. What is Elizabeth Cline's attitude toward clothing rental?| A．Approving. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Objective. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．rental services are on the rise |
| B．clothing rental will be as successful as Uber |
| C．renting clothes might waste more than expected |
| D．renting clothes might make people lose interest in fast fashion |
| A．give up renting any clothing |
| B．purchase inexpensive clothes |
| C．rent clothes rather than buy them |
| D．make full use of clothes we've possessed |
| A．Clothing rental is a new fashion. |
| B．Clothing rental is retailers' preference. |
| C．Renting clothes is not that eco-friendly. |
| D．Renting-clothes business is in a dilemma. |
5 . The 2020 summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo next year. Japan has made 5,000 medals for the winners. But this Olympic medals are more special than most----they are made entirely out of recycled electronics.
One new focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to make them “sustainable”----to avoid using too many natural resources, so that the games are environmentally friendly. As part of this goal, the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics. They needed gold for first place medals, silver for second, and bronze for third. You might not know it, but 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 is 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 2. 2 pounds (1kilogram) of gold.
Beginning in April 2017, organizers placed collection boxes around the country, and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices for the Olympic medals. Soon people began to fill up the boxes, turning in smart phones, digital cameras and laptops. By the end, 1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process. The Japanese mobile phone company NTT Docomo collected 6.21 million used cell phones. In all, around 158,000,000 pounds (71,667,660 kilograms) of electronics were collected.
Then came the job of breaking those phones down into smaller pieces. This is a difficult job. It's also dangerous, because some of the metals and other things that go into electronics aren't safe for people to touch or breathe. That's why it's not a good idea to try something like this at home. Once the devices were broken down, the metals had to be carefully separated out. By the end of March, the organizers had hit their targets. The opening ceremony for the 2020 summer Olympics will take place in Tokyo on July 24,020.
1. What's special about the 2020 summer Olympics medals?| A．Shape. | B．Material. |
| C．Meaning. | D．Weight. |
| A．The Japanese people are unwilling to help. |
| B．Companies are recycling metals for profit. |
| C．The amount of metal in each device is small. |
| D．The amount of device with metals is limited. |
| A．The number of the used electronics is too large to deal with. |
| B．People in Japan are eager to get rid of their used electronics. |
| C．People in Japan are in great favor of the collecting process. |
| D．A number of metals are wasted to produce electronics in Japan. |
| A．The job of breaking down phones into pieces is tough. |
| B．The targets of collecting metals are hard to achieve. |
| C．The metals in the devices are easy to separate out. |
| D．The opening for the 2020 summer Olympics falls in June. |
There
The government has recorded 72, 843 fires. The fire is just one of
Environmental
7 . Leaders in the aviation (航空) industry plan to launch a campaign (发起运动) that they hope will work against what they call a “Flight Shaming Movement” (FSM). They say FSM has weakened people’s demand for air travel in Europe. Some travelers there are increasingly concerned about the effects of flying on the environment. Activists have been calling for greater action against climate change. That includes avoiding air travel.
FSM has affected air travel demand in many European countries, including Britain, France and Germany. The campaign will try to explain to the public how the industry is reducing its effect on the environment. Juniac, head of IATA, said FSM gave off “misleading information”.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is organizing the plan through the Air Transport Action Group, a group of aviation industry organizations and companies. Juniac didn’t say when the campaign would start, but noted that details would be available to airports and airlines.
Commercial flying is estimated to cause about 2.5% of worldwide carbon emissions (释放). However, that number could rise as worldwide air travel increases.
The aviation industry says it has already cut carbon emissions by one-half since 1990. The improvements are mainly the result of aircraft that use fuel more effectively. The industry plans to cut emissions further by 2050. It has a goal of stopping the growth of carbon emissions by 2020.
Airlines also have warned of the harmful effects of FSM. Some have criticized the industry for failing to explain itself. Tim Clark, president of the Airline Emirates, said that improvements in technology have reduced the environmental effects of passenger airplanes.
1. What is FSM about?| A．Weakening people’s demand to travel abroad. |
| B．Calling on all to fight against global warming. |
| C．Announcing the environmental harm of flying. |
| D．Scaring people from approaching the airport. |
| A．Airlines will charge the movement for their loss. |
| B．It ignores the efforts of airlines to reduce pollution. |
| C．Airlines are to blame for the cause of it. |
| D．It has positive effects in urging airlines to be green. |
| A．The effective use of fuel has made air travel greener. |
| B．FSM has caused great loss for aviation industry. |
| C．With more passengers, carbon emissions by planes may rise. |
| D．The aviation industry aims to stop carbon emission by 2020. |
| A．Improvement of air quality since FSM. |
| B．Measures by aviation industry to reduce pollution. |
| C．Travelers’ inconvenience caused by FSM. |
| D．Disapproval of aviation industry against FSM. |
8 . Lego is considering a brick (积木) rental plan in an attempt to cut down on plastic waste. The Danish toymaker has promised to make all its bricks from sustainable (可持续的) sources by 2030 and is investing significant resources into finding alternatives.
Tim Brooks, vice-president responsible for sustainability, said the company was “totally open” to the idea of a product rental plan but admitted that lost pieces could produce a significant problem. “What are the chances of giving them to an eight-year-old child and getting them all back again?” Mr. Brooks added.
“There is a lot of technical thinking that needs to be done. We are right at beginning of that.” Mr. Brooks said Lego was exploring several ideas with a view to producing the highest value from products while consuming the least amount of resources. He said many would “probably never see the light of day” and there was no current plan to try out a rental plan.
Lego has come under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint among growing international alarm about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. It produces 19 billion pieces per year—36, 000 a minute—that are made entirely of plastic while much of the inside packaging is also plastic.
So far, the only breakthrough has been the development of a line of bricks made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane. The green trees, plants and flowers were first included in Lego sets late last year but make up only 1%-2% of the total amount of plastic elements produced. Henrik Nielson, a production supervisor (主管) in Lego’s factory, said last year: “We need to learn again how to do this.”
Lego reportedly releases around a million tons of carbon dioxide each year, with about 75% coming from raw materials that go into factories. The company has invested more than 100, 000,000 euros and hired 100 people to research non-plastic alternatives. It is aiming to keep all of its packaging out of landfill by 2025.
1. Lego is making great efforts to ________.| A．promote its brick rental plan | B．raise its production efficiency |
| C．explore ways to reduce plastic waste | D．develop new products |
| A．is well under way | B．has a long way to go |
| C．is totally useless | D．goes against Lego’s interest |
| A．figures | B．examples |
| C．comparison | D．classification |
| A．Defensive. | B．Determined. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
9 . The evolution of fashion has changed our shopping habits. Fast fashion arrived, making stylish clothes more affordable. Then trend cycles sped up and shopping became a form of entertainment.
However, fast fashion now faces a bottleneck. With decreased sales volumes and competition from H&M, Zara and The Gap in the Chinese market, US clothing brand Forever 21 announced it will fully withdraw(撤退) from China.
Fast fashion may not be as popular as it once was, Discounts, clearance sales and closures clearly show that demand for fast fashion is getting worse. Research from Us-based fashion resale website Thredup points out that one in four women aged 18-25 plans to quit fast fashion in 2019. A major reason is to be more eco-friendly.
On the one hand the constant demand for clothing puts enormous stress on land and water resources. Farming cotton for clothing ruins the soil, and pesticides are overused. So are harmful dyes, It makes the fashion industry the second largest polluter of clean water.
On the other hand, fast production also means that more clothes are disposed( 处置)quickly, which creates a huge amount of waste. Old clothes go to landfills (填埋场), which will further increase the pollution of soil and water.
Fast fashion also puts incredible stress on workers. More than 1, 100 people died in a clothes factory collapse (崩溃)in Bangladesh six years ago. The collapse uncovered the bad situation of the workers. They worked overtime against their will. Some averaged up to 14 hours a day, making only $2(about 14 yuan). Furthermore, most of them were women with children to feed.
British designer Vivienne Westwood once said, “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” Buying is what makes the fashion world go round It's time to start questioning fast fashion and see the true cost of those cheap T-shirts.
1. which one of the following is not the reason why US clothing brand Forever 21 will fully withdraw from China?| A．Fast fashion now faces a bottleneck. |
| B．Shopping became a form of entertainment |
| C．Sales volumes are decrease |
| D．There are many competitors in the Chinese market. |
| A．Because fast fashion may not be as popular as it once was |
| B．Because demand for fast fashion is getting worse. |
| C．Because fast fashion is not so eco-friendly |
| D．Because stylish clothes are not affordable. |
| A．Pesticides are overused on the farm. |
| B．Dyes are harmful and old clothes go to landfills |
| C．People have to farm more cotton |
| D．Fast fashion puts incredible stress on workers |
| A．we should buy cheap T-shirts |
| B．we should buy expensive clothes |
| C．We should buy clothes that last long |
| D．We can't throw away the cheap clothes |
10 . A study has found that warmer waters off North America's West Coast caused many kinds of sea life to move farther north than ever before.
The study was a project of scientists from the University of California, Davis. The scientists examined waters off the coast of Northern California in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The researchers say they recognized a local of 67 species（ 物种）between 2014 and 2016, during what was described as a "marine heat wave". Marine heatwaves were explained in the study as "period of extreme sea surface temperatures lasting for days to months". The 2014-2016 heatwave is thought to be the largest ever recorded. The warn water later moved south toward California.
The warmer water were partly a product of El Niño conditions during the same period, researcher noted. El Niño develops when winds off the coast of South America weaken. This enabled warm water in the western Pacific to move eastward. El Niño often causes ocean temperatures in the area to rise between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius, the study found.
The researchers reported that 37 of the 67 species they studied had never before been observed so far north as California. These creatures are native to an area hundreds of kilometers to the south, mainly around Baja California in Mexico. A few were even found north of California, off the state of Oregon. The northward travel of so many different sea creatures was considered "unprecedented"（史无前例的）by the researchers. Among the species found in the study were a meat-eating sea slug that hunts other sea slugs, a sea snail "butterfly" and purple-lined jellyfish. Another unexpected visitor was the pelagic red crab, which researchers said had only been found in areas off the coast of Mexico.
Scientists involved in the study believe the findings can provide valuable information for knowing future sea life reactions to warming oceans.
1. What is a marine heat wave according to the passage?| A．An ocean with rough surface. |
| B．A wave with low temperatures. |
| C．A period of warmer ocean surface water. |
| D．A species living in extreme weather. |
| A．Warmer waters. | B．Weakened winds off South America. |
| C．Colder sea surface. | D．Species moving northward. |
| A．To point out that ocean environment becomes worse. |
| B．To suggest that sea creatures need separate living space. |
| C．To prove that many kinds of sea life can adapt to warmer waters. |
| D．To evidence that ocean temperature along California are higher than before. |
| A．The heatwaves disturb the life of many sea creatures. |
| B．The increased temperature benefits many sea creatures. |
| C．Sea life reactions can be valuable to predict future heatwaves. |
| D．The heatwaves cause many unexpected visitors to move southward. |
