1 . Architects often spend months or even years perfecting a design to express their ideas more clearly, convey additional information, or outline the right proportions for a building. However, the urgent issue of climate change is placing new demands on their work. For example, in July, Super Typhoon Doksuri battered China, affecting more than 2.66 million people in Fujian Province alone.
Green architecture that conserves energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions offers a solution, and concerted efforts have been made in diverse research fields over the past three decades to minimize heat loss. In addition, new buildings have to be tailored to the needs of people’s lifestyles.
Ren Jun, a professor at Tianjin University’s School of Architecture, who designed the first near-zero energy house in China in December 2019, said, “You can construct low-energy, environmentally-friendly houses, but if the interior design and environmental quality don’t meet residents’ requirements, these properties won’t be suitable to live in.”
The near-zero energy house, located-in Banbidian village in Beijing’s southern district of Daxing, won the International Design Award in the United States in January last year. The 400-square-meter property, which stands at the entrance to the village, runs on solar power gathered from rooftop panels, with the addition of a small amount of power from the grid (电网).
Ren said the first obstacle to conserving energy in the property was heat retention, which he attempted to achieve by keeping the indoor temperature at a certain level. The property is divided into five areas: a solar garden in the front yard, a central lounge, a water courtyard, a sponge zone, and a back room. For the exterior walls, Ren used three types of insulation (隔热层), including plastic foam, each about 25 centimeters thick.
Ren also looked for ways to deal with emissions at the house. He decided to install a ventilator, which pipes air that is polluted and replaces it with fresh air from outside in every room at the property.
Ren said it would take three to five years before more ultralow or near-zero energy buildings appeared in Chinese cities.
1. Which is not an important factor for designing green houses?| A．Energy consumption. | B．Carbon emission. |
| C．People’s lifestyle. | D．Architecture style. |
| A．The house consumes little electricity. |
| B．The house is deliberately designed to keep heat. |
| C．The house is equipped with many intelligent facilities. |
| D．The house is the first International Design Award-winning building in China. |
| A．He designed the house in five stories to trap heat in it. |
| B．He applied 75 centimeters of plastic foam to exterior walls. |
| C．He tailored the interior design to the demand of local people. |
| D．He installed a ventilator to cut down carbon dioxide emissions. |
| A．Green Homes Offer Hope amid Climate Change |
| B．Green Houses Feature Near-Zero Energy Consumption |
| C．Ren Jun Won the International Design Award |
| D．China Strives for Low Carbon Strategy with Green Houses |
1. Why does the man choose to bike to work?
| A．He works in a park near his home. |
| B．He has no train to take near his home. |
| C．He wants to do his part for the environment. |
| A．One hour. | B．Two hours. | C．Three hours. |
3 . In the Seychelles archipelago (塞舌尔群岛) in East Africa, flooding and erosion (侵蚀) caused by rising sea level pose an incoming threat to the country’s many low-lying islands. At the same time its mangrove forests (红树林), which serve as a vital aspect against these impacts, are disappearing: Approximately 70% of Seychelles mangroves have been destroyed since the late 1700s due to human-driven development and agriculture as well as soil erosion from sea-level rise.
Today the Seychelles Government is working with local community leaders to restore the mangroves, and not just for protection against rising sealevel. Research shows that these forests can store about 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 (equal to taking 500,000 cars off the road for a year), directly helping to fight climate change. They also provide a breeding ground for fisheries, a sector that contributes one-fifth of the country’s GDP, benefiting local communities’ livelihood and helping to protect the islands’ lively biodiversity (多样性).
While the concept of using nature to benefit both lives and lands is by no means new, global interest in “nature-based solutions” has skyrocketed in recent years. Many now see nature-based solutions as a key approach for addressing not only climate change but a range of social, environmental and economic challenges—from biodiversity loss, food security and air pollution to disease control and declining local economies.
Yet there remains widespread debate about what exactly constitutes a nature-based solution as well as how to best include these strategies into broader climate and conservation efforts. This indetermination has contributed to significant under-investment: It’s estimated that to limit temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees C (degrees F), hold back biodiversity loss and control land degradation (恶化), annual investments in nature-based approaches must be three times by 2030.
As nature-based solutions continue to rise on the global agenda, building a more consistent understanding around the concept and its implications will be key to raising support for effective, extensive solutions that benefit both people and the planet.
1. What do the first two paragraphs focus on?| A．The diversity of economy in East African. |
| B．The environmental protection in East Africa. |
| C．The disappearance of mangroves in East Africa. |
| D．The operation of nature-based solutions in East Africa. |
| A．Novel. | B．Effective. | C．Ruinous. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．500,000 cars are taken off the road. |
| B．Yearly investment increases by double. |
| C．The temperature rise is limited to below 2.7℃. |
| D．A conference on nature-based solutions is held. |
| A．What Exactly Are Nature-based Solutions? |
| B．Why Are Nature-based Solutions on the Rise? |
| C．How Can Nature-based Solutions Help Fight Climate Change? |
| D．What Are the Potential Weaknesses of Nature-based Solutions? |
4 . Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but the doubters insisted that we didn’t know for sure? That the evidence was inconclusive, the science uncertain? That the anti-smoking lobby(游说) was out to destroy our way of life and the government should stay out of the way? Lots of Americans bought that nonsense, and over three decades, some 10 million smokers went to early graves.
There are upsetting parallels today, as scientists in one wave after another try to awaken us to the growing threat of global warming. The latest was a panel from the National Academy of Sciences, enlisted by the White House, to tell us that the Earth’s atmosphere is definitely warming and that the problem is largely man-made. The clear message is that we should get moving to protect ourselves. The president of the National Academy, Bruce Alberts, added this key point in the preface to the panel’s report: “Science never has all the answers. But science does provide us with the best available guide to the future, and it is critical that our nation and the world base important policies on the best judgments that science can provide concerning the future consequences of present actions.”
Just as on smoking, voices now come from many quarters insisting that the science about global warming is incomplete, that it’s OK to keep pouring fumes into the air until we know for sure. This is a dangerous game: by the time 100 percent of the evidence is in, it may be too late. With the risks obvious and growing, a prudent person would take out an insurance policy now.
Fortunately, the White House is starting to pay attention. But it’s obvious that a majority of the president’s advisers still don’t take global warming seriously. Instead of a plan of action, they continue to press for more research — a classic case of “paralysis by analysis”.
To serve as responsible stewards of the planet, we must press forward on deeper atmospheric and oceanic research. But research alone is inadequate. If the Administration won’t take the legislative initiative, Congress should help to begin fashioning conservation measures. A bill by Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, which would offer financial supports for private industry, is a promising start. Many see that the country is getting ready to build lots of new power plants to meet our energy needs. If we are ever going to protect the atmosphere, it is crucial that those new plants be environmentally sound.
1. What was an argument made by supporters of smoking?| A．Anti-smoking people were usually talking nonsense. |
| B．People had the freedom to choose their own way of life. |
| C．The number of early deaths of smokers in the past decades was insignificant. |
| D．There was no scientific evidence of the correlation between smoking and death. |
| A．A protector. | B．A judge. | C．A critic. | D．A guide. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Confident. | C．Responsible. | D．Experienced. |
| A．Both of them have turned from bad to worse. |
| B．The outcome of the latter worsens the former. |
| C．A lesson from the latter is applicable to the former. |
| D．They both suffered from the government’s neglect. |
5 . The Maranhão region of northern Brazil is my ancestral home. For centuries, we have
But today, our environment is being destroyed for capitalist (资本家的)
When we see an illegal camp or
Our resistance is
| A．consumed | B．anticipated | C．explored | D．preserved |
| A．traditions | B．obstructions | C．possessions | D．antiques |
| A．starts out | B．provides for | C．relies on | D．submits to |
| A．charity | B．mercy | C．greed | D．temper |
| A．logging | B．advertising | C．proceeding | D．bleeding |
| A．slicing | B．closing | C．highlighting | D．reserving |
| A．swallow | B．develop | C．enroll | D．protect |
| A．association | B．spectacular | C．resistance | D．urgency |
| A．grab | B．identify | C．visualize | D．launch |
| A．priority | B．fellow | C．accent | D．advantage |
| A．act | B．arise | C．chew | D．ease |
| A．justify | B．toast | C．surround | D．repair |
| A．hiking | B．packing | C．boating | D．sightseeing |
| A．working | B．swelling | C．freezing | D．withdrawing |
| A．investment | B．advertisement | C．motion | D．struggle |
6 . Vast lands of America are dominated by corn, nearly 100macres of it, stretching from Ohio to the Dakotas. What once was forest today produces the corn that feeds people, cattle and, when made into ethanol (乙醇), cars.
Now, the nation’s airlines want to power their planes with corn, too. United Airlines signed a deal with a Nebraska ethanol company to buy enough sustainable fuel, to power 50,000 flights a year. The government could decide on its tax incentives (税收激励) for the industry as soon as December. “Mark my words, the next 20 years, corn farmers are going to provide 95% of all the sustainable airline fuel,” President Biden said in July.
The airlines’ ambitious goal would likely require nearly doubling ethanol production, which airlines say, with great expectation, would decrease their greenhouse gas emissions. If they succeed, it could transform America’s Corn Belt, stimulating farmers and ethanol producers, but potentially further damaging one of the nation’s most important resources: groundwater.
Corn requires a lot of water to grow and it can take hundreds of gallons to produce a single gallon of ethanol. But as airlines take the idea of ethanol, the vital groundwater faces serious risks. “We’re on track to massively increase water usage without any real sense of how sensitive our groundwater is,” said Jeffrey Broberg, who is concerned about groundwater in Minnesota, a major corn state.
The Department of Energy said in a statement that “water use is a critical part of the conversation surrounding bio-energy sustainability”. It pointed to a 2022 department study that concluded that the United States could significantly reduce pressure on groundwater by shifting fuel production away from water-intensive crops like corn, instead growing more crops that don’t require irrigation (灌溉), like various types of straw, grasses and trees. Hopefully, a better approach will be soon studied and adopted.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．Farmers will increase 95% of their ethanol production. |
| B．The sustainable fuel will not be popular in the future. |
| C．Corn will be an influential source in the fuel industry. |
| D．The government stops the new fuel for the groundwater. |
| A．Preventing. | B．Motivating. | C．Destroying. | D．Impressing. |
| A．The shortage of corn production. |
| B．The increase in global warming. |
| C．A rise in clean-energy tax credits. |
| D．Higher stress on the groundwater. |
| A．Expand the corn planting area. |
| B．Use some alternative materials. |
| C．Cut down the daily water usage. |
| D．Turn to the government for help. |
7 . For the history of life on Earth, organisms have relied on the light of the sun, moon, and stars to find their way and schedule their lives. While the beginning of electric lighting in the late 19th century may have benefited humans, it has caused problems in the natural world. Among the impacts of artificial light at night(ALAN), light pollution lures migrating birds to cities with shocking consequences, contributes to the alarming decline in insect populations, and convinces sea turtle babies to amble(缓行)away from the water instead of towards it.
Now, a new study from the University of Plymouth adds another disappointing finding about how ALAN is affecting the creatures with whom we share the planet: Light pollution from coastal cities can trick corals(珊瑚)into reproducing outside of the optimum times when they would normally reproduce.
Using a combination of light pollution data and spawning(产卵)observations, researchers were able to show for the first time that corals exposed to ALAN are spawning one to three days earlier and closer to the full moon compared to those on unlit corals. “That shift may reduce the survival and fertilization success of gametes(配子)and genetic connectivity between nearby lit and unlit coral systems,” they explain.
“Corals are among the most biodiverse, economically important, and threatened ecosystems on the planet,” write the authors of the study.
“Climate change has led to mass bleaching(褪色)events. Habitat destruction, fisheries, and pollution have reduced corals substantially since the 1950s,” they write, adding, “The complete loss of corals is anticipated over the next 100 years.”
If we want to reduce the harm ALAN is causing, we could perhaps look to delay the switching-on of night-time lighting in coastal regions to ensure the natural dark period between sunset and moonrise when coral reproduction remains undisturbed.
1. Why is the first paragraph written?| A．To present the topic of the text. | B．To advocate energy conservation. |
| C．To explain a natural phenomenon. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．Possible. | B．Appropriate. | C．Flexible. | D．Sensitive. |
| A．Extinction. | B．Losing value. |
| C．Terrible diseases. | D．Exposure to moonlight. |
| A．Creatures Rely on Natural Lights to Schedule Their Life |
| B．Night-time Lighting Shortens Natural Dark Period |
| C．Coastal Lights Trick Corals into Early Spawning |
| D．Light Pollution Leads to Serious Consequences |
8 . Think about what you like to wear on the weekend. There’s a good chance that you like to put on a pair of blue jeans（牛仔裤）. At any moment, about half of the world’s population is wearing jeans. But according to a new study, our love for jeans may be bad for earth. The cloth used to make jeans might be putting some sea animals in danger. Every time we wash our jeans, small bits of it will flow out of our washing machines and into the world’s rivers, lakes and sea.
You might wonder: isn’t the cloth made of something natural? How can it become a danger to nature? Well, when making jeans, the cloth is treated with many types of man-made chemicals. Scientists aren’t yet sure how the chemicals（化学品） in the cloth might harm animals.
In the study, the scientists also washed jeans to see how many bits of the cloth on average each pair would drop per wash. The answer was worrying: about 50,000. Not all of them make their way into the environment. Wastewater treatment plants hold back 83 to 99 percent of them. This may sound pretty good. However, one percent of 50,000 are still 500 per wash. Now think about the number of jeans around the world and the times each of them gets washed. As a result, a large amount of the cloth still gets into the environment.
Does this mean we shouldn’t wear jeans? Probably not. “We need to buy fewer clothes and only wash them when we truly need to do it,” says Sam Athey, one of the scientists. “You don’t need to wash your jeans after having worn them only a few times.”
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The danger. | B．The cloth. | C．The earth. | D．The sea animal. |
| A．There is a large amount of wastewater. |
| B．There is more cloth thrown by people. |
| C．There is too much rubbish created by the cloth. |
| D．There are lots of chemicals which are harmful to animals. |
| A．we should not wear jeans | B．we should not buy clothes |
| C．we should wash the clothes less often | D．we should wash the clothes every day |
| A．History and Culture. | B．Sports and Health. |
| C．Science and Technology. | D．Environment and Life. |
9 . My name is McKenzie Skiles and I’m a snow hydrologist (水文学家) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
I am most interested in the impact of warming temperatures on snow melting rates, and I have started studying snowmelt since 2009 in Utah and Colorado. When I skied to research sites in Utah to collect snow for my experiment, the mountainous landscapes were covered in dust.
In areas with heavy dust deposition, such as the southern Rocky Mountains, dust speeds up melting by one or two months. Warming air temperatures affect snow gathering, but dust builds up over time and darkens the surface.
I’m now exploring different ice and snow landscapes for further research. For example, how black-carbon buildup following forest fires affects melting.
| A．The dust caused a lot of trouble. |
| B．I went for miles in the wilderness. |
| C．Doing my research is no easy task. |
| D．One of the goals is to develop snowmelt models. |
| E．In Colorado, the red dust from desert soils had also blown in. |
| F．As a result, the snow will absorb more sunlight and quicken melting. |
| G．My job is to ski in the wilderness to measure dust on top of snow each spring. |
10 . Josefa Marin went to New York from Mexico in 1987, supporting her daughter back home with the $140 a week she earned at a sweater factory. With that small income, she had to collect recyclables, trading in cans for five cents each.
When the clothing factory closed down in the late 2000s, she became a full-time recycler, picking up cans and bottles to make ends meet.
Marin’s story is not unique. Millions around the world make a living from picking through waste and reselling it- a vital role that keeps waste manageable. In New York City, the administrative department collects only about 28 percent of the cans that could be recycled. Rubbish collectors keep millions of additional recyclables out of landfills every year.
Yet collectors are ruled out by government policies. The United States Supreme Court in1988 stated that household garbage is public property once it’s on the street. That enables police to search rubbish for evidence, but that protection hasn’t always been extended to recyclers. And in places like New York City, which is testing city-owned locked containers to hide garbage from rats, containers are made clearly inaccessible for collectors.
“There’s value in the waste, and we feel that value should belong to the people, not the city or the corporations, says Ryan Castalia, director of a nonprofit recycling and community center in Brooklyn.
Recognized or not, waste pickers have long been treated with disrespect. Marin recalls an occasion when someone living next to a building where she was collecting cans threw water at her. “Because I recycle doesn’t mean I am less of a person than anyone else,” she says.
Some governments are starting to realize that protecting the environment and humanity go hand in hand. The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, for example, calls for an end to poverty and all the risks it brings.
1. What is the author’s purpose of telling about Marin?| A．To highlight waste collectors’ role. |
| B．To reflect laid-off workers’ hardship. |
| C．To praise her devotion to her daughter. |
| D．To show the seriousness of unemployment. |
| A．By contrasting. | B．By citing reference. |
| C．By giving definitions. | D．By cause-effect analysis. |
| A．Business is business. | B．No job is noble or humble. |
| C．The early birds catches worms. | D．One good tum deserves another. |
| A．How can we end poverty? | B．Who owns our garbage? |
| C．Who takes blame for waste? | D．How should we recycle rubbish? |
