1 . Alaska’s Mendenhall glacier (冰川) is about 20 minutes by car from Juneau, the state capital. It is one of the area’s most popular sites for tourists. But climate change has caused the ice to melt (融化). That means it is losing more snow and ice than it gains.
Experts guess that by 2050, people will not be able to see the Mendenhall glacier from the visitor center that was built for it. That is already the case at some other glacier visitor centers in Alaska. The disappearing glacier leads to problems for the Alaskan tourism industry.
Tourism is an important part of Juneau’s economy. About 1.6 million cruise ship passengers are expected to stop in Juneau in 2023. That is the most ever in one year. On especially busy days, 20,000 people arrive each day in the city that has only 30,000 full-time people. Cruise ships are large boats with sleeping places that carry tourists from one place to another. Many cruises start a week-long trip to Alaska in either Seattle, Washington, or Vancouver, Canada.
Manoj Pillai is a cruise ship worker from India. He recently got off his ship and went to see the Mendenhall glacier. “The glacier is so beautiful now,” he said. But he wondered what it looked like 10 or 20 years ago.
Jennifer Dumas lives in Washington, D.C. She knows what Alaska’s glaciers looked like in the past. She and her husband first visited the state and its glaciers in the 1990s. She talked about seeing the Mendenhall glacier over 20 years ago. She went to Glacier Bay National Park and spent the night near the Mendenhall glacier.
“Where we used to camp, you could see the glacier. It has retreated (退缩) so far that you can’t see the glacier anymore. So we have pictures of us in front of the glacier, but you can no longer take such pictures,” Jennifer said.
1. How does the author stress the importance of tourism to Alaska?| A．By listing the number of tourists. | B．By showing the great benefit from tourism. |
| C．By describing native people’s living conditions. | D．By sharing the governments’ support. |
| A．The ship. | B．India. | C．The glacier. | D．Juneau. |
| A．The tourism value of the glacier. | B．The glacier is melting quickly. |
| C．The glacier is losing its attraction. | D．The memory of visiting the glacier. |
| A．Alaska’s Glaciers May Disappear in the Future |
| B．Alaska Is Challenged by Too Many Tourists |
| C．It’s Time to Take Action to Stop Global Warming |
| D．Climate Change Influences Alaska’s Tourism Industry |
2 . Todmorden is an ordinary town in England. In less than two years, it has changed the way it produces its food and the way its residents think about the environment. Compared with 18 months ago, a third more townspeople now grow their own vegetables, almost 7 in 10 now buy local produce regularly, and 15 times as many people are keeping chickens. “Our aim is to make our town completely self-sufficient in food production,” said Pam Warburst, who planned the project, Incredible Edible.
The change started 18 months ago. Nick Green, who runs a company that provides workspace for local artists took on the job of doing the planting. He chose the first land in the middle of the town and it attracted plenty of attention. “We wanted everyone to see what we were doing, so they could ask questions and finally join in.” he said.
Incredible Edible was originally funded out of the participants’ (参与者) own pockets. “We were very clear that we didn’t want to look at what grants (拨款) were available and change our projects to suit them,” said Mr. Green. “We felt that what would work was to start with the town and what it needed. We’d look for money later on.” What the project leaders found was that a lot could be achieved with small amounts of cash. And awards and grants have followed.
“The important thing about Incredible Edible is that it involves (影响) everyone in the town and it’s a grass-roots project. I honestly believe it’s a good plan for every neighborhood. What we’re doing here could easily be rolled out anywhere. It’s all about involving people, giving them ownership, letting them realize it can be fun and interesting and that the food is delicious, and giving them space to set up their own ideas and run with them.”
1. Which of the following can best describe Todmorden?| A．It has an artistic atmosphere. | B．It is leading a green lifestyle. |
| C．It produces everything it needs. | D．It is famous for its beautiful scenery. |
| A．Doing the planting. | B．Choosing the land. |
| C．Nick Green’s company. | D．The workspace for artists. |
| A．By raising money from the locals. | B．By winning an award from a competition. |
| C．By collecting money from the participants. | D．By applying for a grant from the government. |
| A．It helps the residents get rich. | B．It provides enough food for the locals. |
| C．It has been achieved by ordinary people. | D．It has a strong effect on reducing pollution. |
Currently, many major cities in China are carrying out the waste-sorting policy, with the purpose of changing the traditional waste
The new method,
As a result, waste classification should be
4 . Jace Tunnell, the founder of Nurdle I troll and Reserve Director at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, is listening to the same question often.
“I hear every day, somebody says, ‘What is a nurdle?’” he said.
Tunnell explained nurdles are tiny balls of plastic that are typically used to make almost every plastic item we use, so they’re everywhere! He said nurdles are usually spilled (溢出) during transport from cargo ships or railroad cars. “These things would be out here for hundreds of years if we’re not picking them up,” Tunnell said while on a recent Nurdle Patrol cleanup along Galveston Bay.
Since 2018, Nurdle Patrol has grown to thousands of volunteers worldwide. Many people -volunteer with Nurdle Patrol and work for the Galveston Bay Foundation. Nurdle Patrol groups upload their findings to the nonprofit’s website map. It’s marked in colors to show where the highest concentration of nurdles is found.
“They look natural, and birds think that they’re food,” Tunnell said, “Birds, fish, sea turtles and other sea animals can eat nurdles and finally die from hunger because of a false sensation of fullness and lack of nutrition.”
I ended up finding 123 nurdles in 10 minutes. That’s high concentration,” Tunnell said about a recent cleanup. “I plan to take those to an elected official and say, ‘Look, these are what I found on our beaches here. We need to do something about this.’ So, it kind of puts in motion change that can happen.”
Nurdle Patrol has sent out hundreds of kits (工具包) globally, many to schools and volunteer organizations, with information about gathering nurdles and reporting the findings safely. Anyone can request a kit through their website.
1. What do we know about the nurdle?| A．It is easily broken down. | B．It is a small piece of plastic. |
| C．It was invented by Tunnell. | D．It is mainly used to make ships. |
| A．The unique look of nurdles. | B．The number of nurdles in the sea. |
| C．Nurdles’ harm to sea animals’ food. | D．Nurdles’ impact on sea animals. |
| A．Draw a map of nurdles’ concentration. | B．Call the government’s attention to nurdles. |
| C．Organize more cleanups along the beaches. | D．Share his findings on Nurdle Patrol’s website. |
| A．Group surveys the level of pollution in the sea | B．Group takes action to reduce the use of plastics |
| C．Group tries to deal with pollutant harming wildlife | D．Group looks for volunteers for its beach cleanups |
5 . Every week, Angela looked at her recycling bin, filled with shampoo bottles and plastic containers, with mixed feelings. Sure, it was a lot of plastic, but it was going to be recycled. Or so she thought. Then, her husband sent her some articles revealing that less than 6% of the country’s plastic gets recycled. She was shocked.
Determined to cut back on her plastic consumption, Angela got a starter kit from a company selling refillable household cleaners (家用清洁器). In it were tablets, containing concentrated hand soap as well as glass and bathroom cleaners, and four empty containers. She filled each one with tap water, then dropped in a tablet and watched it dissolve. If she was happy with the cleaners, she would order more tablets but reuse the containers. No new plastic required.
Given plastic’s harmful effects on the environment, nearly three quarters of Americans say they are trying to reduce their reliance on single-use plastic, according to Pew Research Center. Since plastic is everywhere and avoiding it altogether is extraordinarily difficult, some, like Angela, have revived a once-customary practice: refilling containers. Household cleaners seem particularly prepared for a refill revolution, for many can be easily concentrated and reconstituted (with water. If just 10% to 20% of plastic packaging are reused, a report from the World Economic Forum estimates, the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean will be cut in half.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic, though. Jan Dell, a chemical engineer, noted that many cleaning products are packaged in PET or HDPE, two types of plastic with relatively high recycling rates. So she is less concerned about them but far more concerned about the packaging of other products. “What companies should be focusing on is everything else that isn’t recyclable, that is single use and that often becomes plastic pollution,” she said, pointing to plastic bags and cups. “This is just a classic example of big corporations doing something to attract people’s attention over here on something that’s not the main issue to distract from all the single-use plastic they’re pushing out.”
1. Why is Angela mentioned?| A．To promote a tablet. | B．To lead in the topic. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To recommend a kit. |
| A．Float over water. | B．Turn over in water. |
| C．Change color in water. | D．Mix with water. |
| A．Critical. | B．Favourable. |
| C．Conservative. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．A chemistry paper. | B．An academic report. |
| C．A lifestyle magazine. | D．A cleaner advertisement. |
6 . Solar stills (蒸馏器) provide a clever and simple means of purifying dirty or salty water, but they work at a rather slow rate. A new material has been shown to boost their performance, and it’s made from fruit waste which would otherwise be thrown away.
In its most basic form, a conventional solar still consists of a basin of undrinkable water that is set beneath a cover. The water evaporates (蒸发) as it’s heated by the sun, condensing (凝结) on the inside surface of the cover. That condensation—which is pure, clean water-drops down the cover and is collected in a separate container for drinking. In order to warm the dirty/salty water at a faster rate, scientists have developed materials that float on its surface, transforming sunlight into heat. They commonly use carbon obtained from coal.
To seek a less costly and more environmentally-friendly alternative, Prof. Edison and colleagues at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looked to something that is free for the taking—fruit waste. More specifically, the scientists tried out coconut peels, orange peels and banana peels.
In a simple carbonization process, the fruit waste was heated at 850℃for a few hours, and mixed with a kind of chemical substance. Doing so transformed the fruit waste into a new material which has a very highlight-to-heat transforming efficiency.
When tested in a small solar still, this new material proved to be very effective at transforming sunlight into heat, causing the dirty/salty water to evaporate much more rapidly. And because the material is full of holes, the waters team is able to rise right through it, subsequently condensing on the inside of the still’s cover.
Prof. Edison and his team found material obtained from the coconut peels worked best, as it transformed sunlight to heat with an efficiency rate of 94%. They are now developing the technology further, and are seeking industry partners to help with its commercialization.
1. What is the paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The working principle of solar stills. |
| B．The advantages of conventional solar stills. |
| C．The new materials of building a solar still. |
| D．The different ways of purifying dirty water. |
| A．To solve the problem of environmental pollution. |
| B．To find out more eco-friendly materials. |
| C．To expand the applied range of the solar still. |
| D．To make solar stills much easier and less costly. |
| A．Get more wastewater from the solar still. |
| B．Test chemical substances in the solar still. |
| C．Obtain an efficient water-purifying material. |
| D．Take measures to improve water quality. |
| A．Scientists are transforming sunlight into heat |
| B．Simple process turns fruit waste into new material |
| C．Solar still s are the best way to get drinking water |
| D．New technology helps, solar stills reach the customers |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
We meet at the school gate at 9 o’clock as scheduled. Upon arrival, we were divided into seven groups, each take charge of an area. Besides, we put up a slogan to call on visitors protect the environment
With summer approaching, more and more people along with their kids spend their time in the forest park which some people leave behind them a trail of rubbishes. Unfortunately, our activity successfully drew much attention from a public in the park. Some gave us the thumbs up, and some joined in us voluntarily. How a successful and meaning activity he was.
8 . While riding hard on a bike, do you feel like you are saving the planet? Or do you just feel out of breath? In fact, cycling is now considered one of the best weapons mankind can use in the fight against climate change.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution (决议) in March supporting bicycles as a tool for dealing with climate change. The resolution calls on member states to “add the bicycle to public transportation, in the city and countryside, in developing and developed countries”, with all 193 members of the UN agreeing upon the resolution.
The decision has received positive comments from different groups in support of cycling and the environmental awareness internationally. “It’s an important step toward the recognition of cycling as an important means of transport,” said the European Cyclists Federation.
The resolution from the UN comes at a time when climate change has returned to the center of the world’s attention. On February 28, the UN published a new report assessing (评估) recent climate change trends (趋势). The report warns that the world’s average temperature will rise by 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900), with more than 40% of the world’s population being “easily affected” to these temperature changes.
Cycling is an environmentally friendly means of transport. Choosing to take a bike instead of a car just once a day can reduce a person’s carbon emission (碳排放) from transport by 67 percent, according to a research by the University of Oxford. The research also found that cyclists produced 84 percent lower CO 2 emissions from all daily travel than non-cyclists.
Cycling has grown in popularity as people who take public transport to work wish to stay away from crowded public transport and also like taking any opportunity to exercise. Cycling culture has been further encouraged with the influence of COVID-19. In May 2020, bike sales in Spain increased 22 times compared with 2019. In London, large parts of the city are being closed off to cars so that people can walk and cycle safely.
More importantly, the resolution focuses on bike-sharing services, which could be seen as recognition of China’s bike-sharing success, noted CGTN. China has some of the largest bike-sharing systems in the world. This means of transport that produces zero emissions reduces the amount of CO2 sent out into the atmosphere (大气层) by 4.8 million tons every year, according to a 2020 report from the World Resources Institute.
1. What is the resolution aimed at?| A．Winning all member states’ support. |
| B．Making bicycles part of public transport. |
| C．Dealing with the problem of climate change. |
| D．Making people healthier and more athletic. |
| A．The whole world’s attention on climate change. |
| B．Cycling is encouraged in numerous countries. |
| C．China’s success in Bike-sharing systems. |
| D．More people wish to exercise more. |
| A．It get people to exercise and stay healthy. |
| B．It can largely reduce our carbon footprint. |
| C．It can reduce the influence of the COVID-19. |
| D．It helps us stay away from crowded public transport. |
| A．Cycling to improve health | B．Cycling to a climate solution |
| C．Why is cycling so important | D．A new resolution by the UN |
9 . Thanks to Earth, we have fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink and warm sunshine to enjoy. But it seems that we may have taken these things for granted and not realized that our planet is getting “sick”.
Among those environmental challenges, global warming sits at the top. Global average temperatures have risen by more than 0.5℃since 1992.
Scientists say that we are experiencing the sixth mass extinction in history. More than two-thirds of the world’s wildlife could be gone by the end of the decade if action isn’t taken soon.
However, we have made some progress. That’s because we gradually stopped using chemicals that can break down ozone, a gas that protects Earth.
| A．The change is a big deal |
| B．Now, scientists have given us a warning |
| C．But this is not the only problem people are facing |
| D．We can make a big difference when we act right now, the letter says |
| E．Scientists also conclude that global warming will continue for centuries |
| F．Some rare animals, like black rhinos, might just appear in the pictures soon |
| G．All the countries in the world should take action on behalf off future generations |
10 . During the summer of 2021, I flew to Greece to learn more about the wildfires there. I wanted to hear people’s stories, to understand what it meant to be displaced by environmental disaster.
In a cafe for people surviving the fire, I met brave children who now have to live with terrible scars, physical and emotional. I met a man who could not even speak to me, his eyes filling with tears.
I was expecting to hear a lot about loss; I was not expecting to learn so much about the attribution (归因) of blame. I came to understand how desperately people needed to blame a tangible entity (实体) –a person, a group of people, the government. Indeed, this was understandable and reasonable. The outbreak and mishandling of the fire needed to be explored, looked into and dealt with.
What surprised me, however, was that the survivors were completely silent over any mention of the climate crisis and global heating. It was made clear to me that this subject was unacceptable. Survivors felt that these issues had nothing to do with what they had suffered, and that the people actually responsible needed to pay.
But when it comes to climate breakdown, blame did not come to just one person, one corporation, one country. In Greece, the fire didn’t rage so hard because someone had set off a spark—— it raged so hard because years of global heating had dried up the land, part of a set of unsustainable (不能持续的) practices and inaction that had set our planet on fire. And now the fires are even worse.
The more I spoke to people, including climate scientists, the more I came to see that there is often a gap that separates science from public awareness. In her book “Engaging With Climate Change” Sally Weintrobe says that “many people who accept global warming continue to regard it as a problem of the future”. To my astonishment, this seemed to apply even to people who had themselves been affected directly by wildfires.
1. What did the author hardly expect to learn in Greece?| A．Kids’ scars. | B．Economic loss. |
| C．Survivors’ blame. | D．Duration of the fire. |
| A．It was closely related to global heating. |
| B．They couldn’t accept its massive destruction. |
| C．The government should be responsible for it. |
| D．It resulted from someone’s setting fire to the forest. |
| A．Much attention has been given to it. |
| B．People don’t consider it serious now. |
| C．Scientists are urged to apply efficient way to it. |
| D．People should make their opinions about it heard. |
| A．To inform readers of wildfires in Greece. |
| B．To encourage readers to donate to survivors. |
| C．To equip people with surviving skills in wildfires. |
| D．To raise people’s awareness about the climate crisis. |
