1 . Differences in land usage, building height, tree cover, rooftop color, and even how orderly the streets are all have an effect on temperature. Taken together, these factors can result in hyper-localized differences in the heat felt throughout a city, which in turn can have a big effect on who's most threatened by heatwaves. That is why citizen scientists are starting to map the urban heat island effect.

Later this month, a team of researchers and about 20 volunteers will spread out across Washington D.C. and Baltimore to take the cities’ temperatures. Equipped with instruments that record temperature data every second, they’ll drive or bike the same route three times to create a snapshot(快照) of how temperatures vary throughout the day. Those snapshots will then be collected to produce detailed maps of heat differences.

“If similar research conducted in Richmond, Virginia last July is any guide, those differences can be quite large. Temperatures in more industrial parts of Richmond reached 102°F (38.9°C) on the same day that a nearby shade-filled park topped out at 87°F (30.6°C)”, said Jeremy Hoffman, a researcher with the Science Museum of Virginia.

Based on the data collected throughout Richmond last year, project member Vivek Shandas at Portland State University and his colleagues were able to produce maps of urban heat across the city as well as heat vulnerability(脆弱性), which takes socioeconomic differences into account. Those maps are now being used to inform a citywide master plan update and a climate resilience(复原) plan.

Shandas and Hoffman plan to produce similar maps from this month's campaigns in D.C. and Baltimore. Finally, the two are hoping to scale up this effort even further. Shandas said he wish to create an off-the-shelf set of guidelines that any city can use to launch its own heat island campaign and generate citywide temperature maps.

Hoffman sees this as a way to help people to relate climate change to their own lives, and then actually do something about it. "The volunteers serve as a feedback mechanism to spread the findings," he said. "We can do heat island assessments using satellites, but we want a team of volunteers measuring temperatures in their neighborhoods to gain a better understanding of where they live."

1. The heat differences throughout the city result from the following factors except ________.

A．height of buildings	B．usage of land
C．layout of streets	D．social economy

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．In Richmond, the difference of temperature between industrial parts and the nearby park can reach 15°C on the same day.

B．The maps of heat differences across Richmond make little contributions to the city plans.

C．The researchers will appoint volunteers to take the temperatures in

D．C. and Baltimore to cut down the expense.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “off-the-shelf” in paragraph 5?

A．superb	B．available
C．tough	D．random

2 . A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.

Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.

In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc（锌）an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.

The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.

One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.

Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.

The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.

1. Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?

A．China

B．Britain

C．America

D．Myanmar

2. How is Paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By comparison.	B．By giving examples.
C．By analyzing causes.	D．By describing a process.

3. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Climate change will be difficult to predict.

B．Climate change will lead to more good effects.

C．Climate change will be harmful to environment.

D．Climate change will cause more unexpected problems.

4. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health.

B．The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most.

C．The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment.

D．Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent.

3 . Earth Day Photo Contest

Is a picture worth a thousand words? We think so! Snap（拍摄）a digital photograph that answers this question: Why is Earth Day important to our planet? Get details below.

●HOW TO ENTER: This contest begins on January 18, 2016 and ends on March 21, 2016. To enter online, visit timeforkids.com/photocontest and follow instructions to give the following information:

(a) an original and previously unpublished photograph that answers the Earth Day question “Why is Earth Day important to our planet?” and that was photographed by the entrant（参赛者）between March 1, 2015, and March 21, 2016; photographs must be 300 dpi and 5 x 7 inches, and saved as a JPEG file; file sizes may not be more than 10 MB;

(b) a caption（说明文字）describing the picture, what is happening, where the photo was taken, the date the photo was taken and why entrant chose to enter this image;

(c) Entrant’s name; entrant’s e-mail address; and parent’s, or teacher’s e-mail address. Limit one entry per person.

● JUDGING: All entries will be judged by our magazine staff based on the following standards: creativity & originality (50%); photo composition (25%); and appropriateness to contest theme (25%). Winners will be told by e-mail, and must respond within five days.

●ELIGIBILITY（资格）: Open to residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are elementary school students aged 8–13 years.

●PRIZES: Judges will select 10 Semifinalists, from which one Grand-Prize Winner and nine Finalists will be chosen. The Grand-Prize Winner will receive a digital camera; approximate retail value: $300.00. The photograph entry of the Grand-Prize Winner will be published in the April 15 Earth Day issue of TFK. Other winners will receive an MP4 player and a copy of our magazine. The photograph entries of all Semifinalists will be published in the gallery of timeforkids.com.

1. The entrant must give the following information EXCEPT________.

A．an original photograph	B．a published photograph
C．a photo caption	D．the entrant’s e-mail address

2. Which of the following is considered to be the most important evaluation standard?

A．Creativity& originality.	B．Photo composition.
C．Photography technique.	D．Appropriateness to contest theme.

3. What prize will the Grand-Prize Winner receive?

A．An MP4 player.	B．A copy of magazine.
C．A digital camera.	D．A cheque of $300.00.

4 . 假如你是李华, 夏天到了，你们学校教室空调温度设定太低，你就此问题给你们学校校长写一封信，你写信告诉他：

1.教室空调温度设定太低，由此可能带来的问题

2.建议空调温度设定到26度，节能环保

注意：

1.词数100左右；

2.可以适当添加细节，使行文连贯；

3.已给出的部分不算词数。

Dear Headmaster,

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours

Li Hua

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the relationship between the speakers?

A．Colleagues.

B．Schoolmates.

C．Brother and sister.

2. What does the woman think of the show?

A．Inspiring.

B．Unusual.

C．Cool.

3. Which part did the woman like best about the show?

A．Designer wear.

B．Clothes recycling.

C．Live models.

6 . Beer is one of the world’s most popular drinks. One of beer’s most important ingredients（成分）is water. Beer makers say you need up to five liters（升）of water to make one liter of beer. If water becomes limited, then, will people have to stop making beer? Beer makers have already thought of that possibility. So, in some cities, people are testing out beers made from collected and filtered rainwater.

They are also collecting rainwater and water from the beer-making process for use inside the beer factory. Sierra Nevada is a well-known beer factory in California. It uses rainwater for cleaning and washing toilets. Beer makers understand the importance of saving water. If there is no water, there is no beer.

That is why Stone Beer Company, near San Diego, California, worked with a local water treatment program to make beer. The program is called Pure Water San Diego. It wants to provide one-third of the city’s water by 2035.

Working with Pure Water, the beer factory used purified water that came from wastewater. Wastewater is water that has already been used for showers, washing dishes or toilets.

Stone is a large beer factory. It has customers across the U.S. and Europe. Some of their beers are among the best in the United States. So it was a big deal when Stone released a special beer called Full Circle Pale Ale in March. Many websites and newspapers wrote about the beer. They reported that it was made from “toilet water.” Local television stations recorded people's reactions as they tasted the beer.

Stone later wrote a blog post saying it was not happy with all of the news coverage-especially reports that centered on the idea of “toilet water.” But it was happy that the experiment was a success.

The beer was only made for a special event. Stone Beer is not permitted to sell in stores or at the restaurants.

1. Why do some beer makers use rainwater to make beer?

A．To try new sources of water.

B．To make special taste for beer.

C．To reduce the cost of production.

D．To give up pure water in production.

2. What did Stone Beer Company want Pure Water San Diego to do?

A．Help it to develop new kind of beer.

B．Supply the majority of water to the city.

C．Make waste water clean enough to make beer.

D．Deal with its waste water from the beer production process..

3. What do we know about the special beer?

A．It was welcomed by the public.

B．Few people dared to taste it.

C．It will be sold in large quantities.

D．It received great attention from the media.

4. What did Stone Beer Company think of the reports about the beer?

A．They are satisfying.	B．They are disappointing.
C．They are surprising.	D．They are beneficial.

7 . 环保节约是我们每个地球人的责任。假设你是李华，最近正在和你的美国朋友Jack讨论如何进行“低碳生活”。请你就“低碳生活之我见”给Jack写一封回信，内容包括：1. “低碳生活”的重要性； 2. 如何做到“低碳生活”；3. 邀请对方参加“全球低碳行动”。
注意：1、词数100左右；

2、开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数；

3、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

提示词：低碳生活：low-carbon life
Dear Jack,

How is everything going?

____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.

To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.

As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.

So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.

1. What does the author think of new devices?

A．They are environment-friendly.	B．They are no better than the old.
C．They cost more to use at home.	D．They go out of style quickly.

2. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?

A．To reduce the cost of minerals.

B．To test the life cycle of a product.

C．To update consumers on new technology.

D．To find out electricity consumption of the devices.

3. Which of the following uses the least energy?

A．The box-set TV.	B．The tablet.
C．The LCD TV.	D．The desktop computer.

4. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?

A．Stop using them.	B．Take them apart.
C．Upgrade them.	D．Recycle them.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Diets have changed in China — and so too has its top crop. Since 2011, the country     1    （grow）more corn than rice. Corn production has jumped nearly 125 percent over     2     past 25 years, while rice has increased only 7 percent.

A taste for meat is     3     (actual) behind the change: An important part of its corn is used to feed chickens, pigs, and cattle. Another reason for corn's rise: The government encourages farmers to grow corn instead of rice     4     (improve) water quality. Corn uses less water     5     rice and creates less fertilizer(化肥) runoff. This switch has decreased     6     (pollute) in the country's major lakes and reservoirs and made drinking water safer for people.

According to the World Bank, China accounts for about 30 percent of total     7     (globe)fertilizer consumption. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture finds that between 2005—when the government     8     (start) a soil-testing program     9     gives specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers - and 2011, fertilizer use dropped by 7.7 million tons. That prevented the emission(排放) of 51.8 million tons of carbon dioxide. China's approach to protecting its environment while     10     (feed) its citizens "offers useful lessons for agriculture and food policymakers worldwide." says the bank's Juergen Voegele.

10 . To eat only a vegan（素食的） diet might sound difficult, especially with many popular dishes containing meat or other animal products. Yet in 2017, veganism was described as “the fastest - growing lifestyle movement” in the UK, according to BBC news.

A study by a UK market research organization, suggests that over 542,000 Brits went vegan during the previous decade, an increase of 360%. And the main force behind this increase was those aged 15-34 years old — 42% of recent vegans fall under that age range.

So why exactly has veganism become so popular among young Brits?

One reason could be that many young people want to protect the environment, as less meat consumption is known to be beneficial to the environment. Global meat manufacturing is believed to cause 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions（排放）, even more than that of all the world’s cars, trains and planes combined. Another reason is that many of today’s young people believe that it’s wrong to kill animals to be used as food.

Jess Murray, 22, a student at University College London, said that he chose to become vegan after realizing that eating animals is a choice that people make, rather than something that we need to do to survive. “Becoming vegan was an ethical (道德的) decision,” he told the Guardian.

Social media is also believed to have given rise to the increase in veganism. Platforms such as Facebook allow young vegans to connect with each other much easier, while others such as Instagram have led to the creation of “vegan celebrities (名人)”, who share lips on vegan lifestyles.

Despite the rising of veganism, Laura Wyness, an expert in diet and nutrition, said that meat is very important for people’s health. “A strict vegan diet makes it difficult to get some minerals and vitamins that your body needs,” Wyness told BBC news.

However, the popularity of veganism doesn’t seem to be fading. “It feels more like this is something that is sticking.” said an expert of the Vegan Society, a UK charity that promotes veganism.

1. What can we learn about veganism, “the fastest-growing lifestyle movement” in UK?

A．It has created many popular dishes.

B．It is backed up mainly by old people.

C．It has led to further market research.

D．It has grown steeply in the past 10 years.

2. The following may account for the increase in veganism EXCEPT        .

A．Young people prefer an environment-friendly life.

B．Young people want to become ethical celebrities.

C．Meal manufacturing contributes a lot to the world’s greenhouse gas.

D．Social media allow the vegan message to spread quickly around.

3. The underlined word “sticking” in the Iasi paragraph is equal to        in meaning.

A．important	B．special
C．lasting	D．impressive

4. Which of the following will serve as the best title of the passage?

A．Young Brits Going Vegan	B．Veganism Comes First
C．How to Start a Vegan Lifestyle	D．Veganism and the Environment