1 . The Tokyo Summer Olympics is going green. The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.
One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be“sustainable”—to avoid using too many natural resources, so that the games are easy on the environment. As part of this goal, the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.
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 was 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 1 kilogram of gold.
Beginning in April 2017, the organizers placed collection boxes around the country, and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices. Soon people began to respond to the initiative, turning in smartphones, digital cameras, hand-held games, and laptops. At first, collection went slowly, but soon more and more areas began to take part. By the end, 1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.
Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces. After being taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted (熔炼) to get all the gold, silver, and bronze elements. This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill. It's also dangerous, because some of the metals and other things aren't safe for people to touch or breathe.
By the end of March, 2019, the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around3xkilograms of gold, 4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze. And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.
1. What can we know about the Tokyo Olympics medals?| A．They are hugely valuable. |
| B．They are of high quality. |
| C．They are designed uniquely. |
| D．They are made from e-waste. |
| A．The difficulty of making the medals. |
| B．The process of collecting old electronics. |
| C．The initiative to recycle used smartphones. |
| D．The classification of the collected devices. |
| A．creative | B．well-paid |
| C．demanding | D．time-consuming |
| A．To advocate sustainable use of resources. |
| B．To promote the spirit of Olympic Games. |
| C．To introduce a new technique to make medals. |
| D．To call people's attention to environmental damage. |
1. What kind of place is the speaker mainly describing?
| A．A famous restaurant chain. |
| B．A local cafe in South Africa. |
| C．An unknown restaurant. |
| A．Forest. | B．Fish. | C．Real wild animals. |
| A．Concerned about the environment. |
| B．Happy with the delicious food. |
| C．Willing to help the poor. |
| A．Traditional drinks. | B．Beautiful flowers. | C．Cultural stories. |
3 . Have you imagined that planting trees can make a big difference? People say that one man can’t make a difference, but Abdul Samad Sheikh, a 60-year-old rickshaw (人力车) driver from Bangladesh, has proved that doing a small thing over a long period of time can mean very much. He has planted at least one tree every day since he was 12 years old, which means that he has so far planted a small forest of over 17,500 trees. Imagine if everyone followed his example.
Abdul has worked as a rickshaw driver for most of his life. He makes a little money from his job, which is only enough to put food on the table for his family, but he somehow tries to also buy at least one tree every day. He considers it his duty to the world. Mostly he plants them on government land so nobody can cut them down later. He also waters them, and if he sees anyone cutting a tree, he blames them.
Abdul, his wife Jorna, and four of their children live in two old houses, on a piece of land that is owned by the Faridpur deputy commissioner’s office. They have no land of their own.
Sometimes, she commands him not to plant trees but he doesn’t listen. Abdul’s 30-year-old son, Kutub Uddin, has never told his father not to plant trees, because he thinks his father does a good thing for society.
Abdul’s neighbors all know about his daily habit, and praise his work. Whoever can ask of him anything, he will do his best to help. Therefore, Abdul is loved by neighbors.
For his efforts, Abdul Samad Sheikh was recently honored by The Daily Star, and given $1,253 to help him build a better home for his family. The Daily Star wished everyone to follow his example, and protect the environment.
“I can’t do it alone. I need the help of you all,” Abdul said in his speech.
1. What do we know about Abdul?| A．He doesn’t support his family. | B．He plants trees with his own money. |
| C．He makes a living by doing different jobs. | D．He plants trees to win his neighbors’ praise. |
| A．To get money from government. |
| B．To set a good example to people. |
| C．To protect them from being cut down. |
| D．To get a place from government to build his own house. |
| A．Poor but helpful. | B．Rich and reliable. |
| C．Uncaring and stupid. | D．Active but dishonest. |
| A．Driving a rickshaw. | B．Planting trees. |
| C．Making big money. | D．Building a better home. |
4 . For decades,Americans have been sorting their trash believing that most plastic could be recycled.But the truth is that the vast majority of all plastic produced can't be or won't be recycled.In 40 years,less than 10% of plastic has been recycled.
A news programme Frontline,by NPR and the PBS,found that oil and gas companies- the makers of plastic-have known that all along,even as they spent millions of dollars telling the American public the opposite.The plastics industry officials said the industry is providing money for new technology that they believe will get recycling plastic up to scale.The goal,they said,is to recycle 100% of the plastic they make in 5 years.
But the more plastic is recycled,the less money the industry will make by selling new plastic.And those profits have become increasingly important.Companies have told shareholders（股东）that profits from using oil and gas for transport are expected to decline in coming years with the increasing use of electric cars.The industry leaders expect oil and gas demands from the chemical industry will be much greater than the demand from the transport side in the coming decade.Plastic production overall is now expected to rise three times by 2050,and once again,the industry is spending money on advertisements and public relations to promote plastic recycling.
Plastic is now more common than it's ever been and harder to recycle.Gas prices remain at historic lows,making new plastic cheaper than recycled plastic.And the industry now produces many more different-and more complex-kinds of plastics that are more costly to sort and in many cases can't be recycled at all.Efforts to reduce plastic use are mounting nationwide,but any plan to slow the growth of plastic will face an industry with billions of dollars of future profits to lose.
1. What do we know about the goal of 100%plastic recycling?| A．It's modest. |
| B．It's achievable. |
| C．It's urgent. |
| D．It's unreal. |
| A．By selling electric cars. |
| B．By adding emphasis on recycling. |
| C．By increasing plastic production. |
| D．By meeting the needs of transport. |
| A．Increasing. |
| B．Working. |
| C．Failing. |
| D．Decreasing. |
| A．Should Plastic Be Recycled? |
| B．Can Plastic Waste Be Handled? |
| C．Recycle Plastic or Sell More? |
| D．Plastic Products or Substitutes? |
5 . Imagine possessing something that you loved so much. Imagine what it would feel like if you lost it. While that item may be something as simple as a toy, you would still feel very upset, but you could replace it with a new one. Now imagine losing something that you depend on for survival and cannot be replaced. That is what it would be like if we lost the natural environment around us.
Firstly, I believe the environment should be protected because it supports human life. One of the largest examples is that we get all of our food and drinks from the environment. If the environment were to be destroyed beyond revival, then the human race would be over in months. Scientists have to find another planet with similar conditions to the Earth, and if it's found, we don’t have the technology to get to that planet in time.
Secondly, I believe that the environment serves as an amazing educational tool for students. When I was in second grade, I had an absolute interest in animals. When we had a field trip to the Daggerwing Nature Center, I was very excited. When we got there, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. There was a bridge to get to the main building, and under the bridge was a small swamp (沼泽) with turtles, fish, and my personal favorite, alligators. I was so surprised that I almost ran into the tour guide. We walked into the building and saw various animals in their habitats. I was so inspired by this visit. Six years later, I have taken an animal behavior class for three weeks. Meeting by chance with the environment can inspire people, and if preserved, it will continue to inspire people.
In conclusion, the environment is so valuable because it can't be replaced, keeps us alive, and serves as a great educational tool.
1. The first paragraph leads to the theme of the text by________________.| A．describing a process. | B．presenting differences. |
| C．analyzing causes. | D．showing similarities. |
| A．health. | B．recovery. |
| C．range. | D．survival. |
| A．To express the writer’s absolute interest in animals. |
| B．To introduce the Daggerwing Nature Centers scenery. |
| C．To show the environment can inspire and educate people. |
| D．To prove the subject he has chosen is promising. |
| A．Why the Environment Is So Important? |
| B．Which Planet Can Replace the Earth? |
| C．How People Should Protect the Environment? |
| D．What People Can Do to Stop Pollution? |
6 . It is true that quite a few most respected scientific authorities have confirmed that the world is becoming hotter and hotter. There is also strong evidence that humans are contributing to the warming. Countless recent reports have proved the same thing. For instance, a 2012 summary about the climate science by the Royal Society noted that, ''The global warming over the last half- century has been caused mainly by human activity.''
You may not believe that humans could change the planet's climate, but the basic science is well understood. Each year, billions of tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere because of human activity. As has been known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.
Of course, the earth's climate has always been changing due to “natural” factors such as volcanic eruption or changes in solar, or cycles concerning the Earth's going around the sun. According to the scientific research, however, the warming observed by now matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere — not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming recorded so far, that would give birth to a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it, ''If some newly discovered factor is to blame for the climate change, then why aren't carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?''
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths — one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty.
1. In most scientists' opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by _______.| A．solar activities | B．volcanic activities |
| C．natural factors | D．human factors |
| A．giving typical examples | B．following the order of space |
| C．analyzing a theory and arguing it | D．comparing and finding differences |
| A．''natural'' factors also contribute to changes of earth’s climate |
| B．greenhouse gases also have some benefits to the earth |
| C．there is another planet that is exactly the same as the earth |
| D．increasing temperature can not be proved with 100% certainty |
| A．Are All the Scientists Really Scientific? |
| B．Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to? |
| C．Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming? |
| D．What's Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases? |
1. 你所在小区的垃圾分类情况；
2. 垃圾分类的好处；
3. 你的感受。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：垃圾分类 garbage classification
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8 . Last year saw one of the poorest salmon returns on record in North America. Yet, we are eating more fish than ever before. Aquaculture (水产养殖) production has tripled in the last two decades to meet this need, and another historic move was made by the FDA earlier this year, when a company received the first ever nod to sell a genetically modified salmon, a bioengineered version of the Atlantic salmon.
US-based AquaBounty, the firm which received the go-ahead, said it would begin stocking fish in supermarkets ''as soon as possible''. The first commercial harvest is expected at the end of 2020. At the moment, Argentina, Brazil and China have also granted environmental approvals for genetically modified fish farming trials.
This genetically modified salmon is actually a fish injected with the DNA of two other edible fish. The long road to the current version of the GM fish began in the 1980s when a physiologist named Garth Fletcher read about the work being done to genetically modify mice and wondered whether it could apply to salmon. He understood that the fish's growth hormones are most active in some seasons and considered changing this so that the hormones are always active. Cut to 2019, Fletcher's GM fish is able to reach adult size in 16 to 18 months, compared with 30 months for natural Atlantic salmon, while consuming 25% less feed.
In the United States, Atlantic salmon is endangered, so catching it is heavily restricted. It is currently imported from Chile, Norway and Canada. If the production and sales of AquaBounty go as planned, this will all change. And simultaneously, the company claims that farming the fish in their land-based hatcheries will lower the transportation cost as well as emissions associated with importing the fish as is currently done.
This has not all been without stiff opposition, and protestors who have sent nearly 2 million comments to the FDA have had issues on three main fronts. Health risks, being the main one, as it has been with several other genetically modified foods in the past. The environmental group Earth Action says no one can predict what will happen when people start eating the fish over time.
1. What can we learn about AquaBounty?| A．It is a firm located in Argentina. |
| B．It performs research into GM fish. |
| C．It deals with the production and sales of fish. |
| D．It is the only firm allowed to produce GM fish. |
| A．it has proved to have no health risks |
| B．it costs 25% less than imported salmon |
| C．it can meet people's ever increasing need |
| D．it grows faster than natural Atlanticsalmon |
| A．fish markets will be seriously disturbed |
| B．GM food has potential health problems |
| C．GM salmon may not be up to the standard |
| D．the environmental group Earth Action will not be satisfied |
| A．the nod to sell a GM salmon |
| B．the lower cost of GM salmon |
| C．the prediction about what will happen |
| D．the import of salmon from Chile, Norway and Canada |
9 . If plastic had been invented when the Pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England, to North America - and their Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks, their plastic waste would likely still be around four centuries later. Atlantic waves and sunlight would have worn all that plastic into tiny bits. And those bits might still be floating around the world’s oceans today, waiting to be eaten by some fish or oyster, and finally perhaps by one of us.
Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and its production only really took off around 1950, we have a mere 9. 2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6. 9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a surprising 6. 3 billion tons never made it to a recycling bin - the figure that shocked the scientists who published the numbers in 2017.
No one knows how much unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, the earth’s last sink. In 2015, Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia engineering professor, caught everyone’s attention with a rough estimate: between 5. 3 million and 14 million tons of plastic waste each year just come from coastal regions.
Meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine( 海 洋 的 )animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly, stuck by abandoned things made of plastic. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from zooplankton to whales, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across.
“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Ted Siegler, a Vermont resource economist who has spent more than 25 years working with developing nations on garbage. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, he says, ideally before the ocean turns into a thin soup of plastic.
1. Why does the author mention the Pilgrims in paragraph 1?| A．To prove plastic was difficult to invent. |
| B．To introduce what marine animals like eating. |
| C．To tell the Pilgrims contributed a lot to the marine protection. |
| D．To show plastic waste has a lasting effect on the ocean. |
| A．Lacking protection. | B．Being stuck by plastics. |
| C．Being caught by humans. | D．Treating plastics as food. |
| A．Some people don’t know the solution of plastics waste. |
| B．Plastics will turn the ocean into a soup of plastic. |
| C．It’s time to take measures to deal with plastic waste. |
| D．People should avoid using plastics to protect the ocean. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．An environmental report. | D．A lifestyle magazine. |
10 . Clothing rental (租赁) is a hot new industry and businessmen are trying their best to attract shoppers. This past summer alone, Urban Outfitters, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and American Eagle have all announced rental subscription services — a sure sign of changing times.
But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline researched this question in an article for Elle, and she concluded that it’s not as green 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 footprint of our fashion habit after producing.
She writes, “An item ordered online and then returned can send out 20 kilograms of carbon each way, and increases to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. However, the carbon effect of a pair of jeans bought in a store and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study.”
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 is a high-effect and polluting process, which can produce dangerous waste and air pollution if not dealt with correctly.
Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our, desire for fast fashion, simply because it’s so easy to get. There’s something called ‘share-washing’ that leads to more wasteful behaviors mainly 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 car 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 waste after a few wears, but we shouldn’t let the convenience of these services make us satisfied. There’s an even better step—and that’s wearing what is already in the closet (衣柜).
1. How much carbon will be produced when an item is normally ordered online and then returned?| A．10 kilograms. | B．20 kilograms. |
| C．40 kilograms. | D．50 kilograms. |
| A．It is considered fashioned. |
| B．It is popular to young people. |
| C．It can reduce transport burden. |
| D．It can leave large carbon footprint. |
| A．cause more wasteful behaviors |
| B．satisfy our desire for fashion |
| C．help protect the environment |
| D．replace the public transport |
| A．The request for throwing cheap clothes. |
| B．The advice on wearing what we own. |
| C．The disadvantage of clothing rental. |
| D．The call for renting clothes. |
