1 . Zhu Dejun’s first job after graduating from college was as a road design engineer in his hometown, Alshaa League, North Chin’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region(内蒙古自治区). In 2011, when Zhu was conducting a road survey along with his colleagues, he saw a plant that he didn’t recognize. Later, Zhu learned that the plant was a saxaul (灌木梭梭) tree which is an excellent tree species for sand fixation and afforestation (造林) in desert areas. Known as a desert guardian, a fully grown saxaul tree can hold together a 10-square-meter patch of desert land, according to Zhu.
Zhu quit (辞去) his job at the design institute in 2014 and joined a nonprofit organization, the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology Conservation, or SEE, in the same year, concentrating on dealing with desertification (沙漠化) .During the past eight years, Zhu has been leading a team from SEE to plant saxaul trees in sandy areas in Alshaa League and other places of Inner Mongolia.
In 2014, the SEE launched a project titled “one million saxaul trees”, aiming to reach that number from 2014 to 2023, turning the desert of more than 133, 330 hectares (公顷) back into a satisfying ecosystem. By the end of 2018, half of the organization’s goal had been achieved. In 2016, Ant Finance cooperated with SEE to introduce the Ant Forest platform, not only encouraging people to choose “a low-carbon way” of shopping, traveling and living, but also to help control desertification.
Through the participation of a greater number of online users, who grow virtual trees, the SEE Foundation, set up in 2008, has been providing subsidies (补助金) for local herdsmen and farmers while also offering technological support to plant saxaul trees in desert areas. Now, Zhu is the head of the foundation’s project to fight desertification. He also gives lectures about saxaul trees and the fight against desertification at schools, hoping to raise awareness among young people.
1. What did Zhu Dejun do first after graduation?A.Here searched on saxaul trees. |
B.He joined a nonprofit organization. |
C.He found ways to fight desertification. |
D.He focused on road design engineering. |
A.They are easily taken care of. |
B.They can grow fast in deserts. |
C.They are perfect for holding water. |
D.They can fight desertification effectively. |
A.They teamed up with Ant Finance. |
B.They planted one million saxaul trees. |
C.They held online lectures on desertification. |
D.They encouraged donation from online users. |
A.By providing subsidies. | B.By raising awareness. |
C.By planting trees online. | D.By offering technological support. |
2 . An international group of electronic music composers is taking beats from the dance club to jungles and forests and back, all to help save nature’s greatest singers. A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean is a new album that includes the sounds of endangered birds. The album will come out next month, whose proceeds will go directly towards efforts to save birds.
The whole project was born out of this idea of trying to combine birdsong, electronic music and conservation. A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean was organized by activist, music producer, Robin Perkins. He invited artists from each of the endangered birds ‘homelands to build their own songs around the birds’ songs. There are contributions from ten artists in eight different countries.
First single Black Catbird was created by The Garifuna Collective, from Belize. Al Obando, guitarist and producer of the group, always took in national parks and viewed birds when on the road with the band. “There are no trails, and there are no signs there to tell you about what you’re seeing,” Obando says. “So we’re trying to do something for the birds and nature tourism.”
Another musician who responded to Robin’s call is Tamara Montenegro, an artist from Nicaragua. She was shocked to hear of the serious situation of the Guardabarranco after being approached: “This beautiful creature I grew up adoring also faced the influence of the systematic human activities”. In response, she created a song inspired by this bird and the challenges it faces to live naturally.
The new album is the second edition, following on from A Guide to the Birdsong of South America, produced by Robin in 2015. That first album has raised, to date, over $15,000 benefitting conservation projects in South America. As with the first album, all of the money from the sales of the new album will support specific organizations, including Birds Caribbean.
1. What does the underlined word “proceeds” in Paragraph 1 refer to?A.Profits. | B.Budgets. | C.Challenges. | D.Effects. |
A.He created a hit single himself. |
B.He was fond of observing birds. |
C.He was the organizer of the new album. |
D.He did a lot for birds in South America. |
A.It was friendly to humans. |
B.It was living in bad conditions. |
C.It was beautiful in appearance. |
D.It was facing challenges from other birds. |
A.To collect money for a project. |
B.To popularize electronic music. |
C.To recommend some famous artists. |
D.To introduce a new album of electronic music. |
3 . For many young Canadians, planting trees is more than just a job. It’s a way of
Planting trees is not easy work, according to Leslie. Not only is it
So far, Leslie has planted a total of 372,290 trees in the past few years.
“I think every parent in Canada should
A.appointment | B.impression | C.recreation | D.life |
A.investment | B.liberation | C.video | D.story |
A.negative | B.speedy | C.respective | D.influential |
A.rewarding | B.massive | C.original | D.diverse |
A.barely | B.permanently | C.gradually | D.physically |
A.heavy | B.sunny | C.severe | D.obvious |
A.expect | B.organize | C.prefer | D.recover |
A.scream | B.action | C.push | D.wave |
A.potential | B.sudden | C.tough | D.flexible |
A.Moreover | B.However | C.Besides | D.Therefore |
A.turns to | B.relates to | C.belongs to | D.subscribes to |
A.admit | B.warn | C.whisper | D.recommend |
A.send | B.celebrate | C.understand | D.decide |
A.imagined | B.argued | C.explained | D.responded |
A.version | B.concept | C.responsibility | D.qualification |
4 . Overlooking the Davis—Gant Varsity Soccer Field, a bed of overturned soil waits for further development. In a few years, this area will become a natural habitat and a playground for animals and residents. This peaceful area didn’t appear naturally, but through planning and action taken by Catlin Gabel’s Tiny Forest project launched by teacher Patrick Walsh.
Forests typically take hundreds of years to mature, with four stages of growth. “Tiny forests flatten out time through the planting of all four layers (层),” Walsh explained. The end result is a fast-growing, native forest in about 20 years. Over 600 plants from 43 species will be planted in the tiny forest, the first one in Oregon.
Walsh was inspired to build a tiny forest after hearing about this idea, which emerged in Japan and has taken hold in North America. He shared his vision with seniors in his class. The seniors researched tiny forests and made a proposal resulting in Clean Water Services donating 60 trees and $5,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Armed with these resources, Walsh and the students started working. “Something I didn’t really expect was the outpouring of students’ enthusiasm. Seeing students from all grades volunteered to contribute to the ‘dirty work’ really blew me away,” Walsh said.
Senior Megan Cover has been at the school since the first grade. “I’ll graduate after working on this project, which is surely sad, but it’s really rewarding and great to be a part of this project and to do my bit. We’re creating this educational space for many young kids,” Cover said.
Walsh summed up his goal of the project, which is to build a place where students can enjoy and learn about nature. “The forest will obviously not solve climate change, but it will deserve the efforts if the kids think about climate change and remember the importance of reforestation and trees when they look outside at the forest.”
1. What is special about tiny forests?A.They originated in North America. | B.They are usually planted in schools. |
C.They contain various types of trees. | D.They become mature in a shorter time. |
A.The abundance of native tree species. | B.Public concern about the environment. |
C.The active participation of students. | D.Support from local organizations. |
A.Proud. | B.Regretful. | C.Grateful. | D.Disappointed. |
A.A model. | B.A reminder. | C.A resource. | D.A witness. |
The heat wave that broke high temperature records in five European countries a week ago is now over Greenland,
Melting
Greenland, the world’s
6 . I strongly believe that individual actions make a difference to our environment. I’ve been a vegetarian for more than two decades, choose to be child-free partially because I can’t justify my genes’ importance over the shocking amount of resources needed for raising another American, and haven’t owned a car in four years. Those things, over time, will absolutely reduce my impact on our beautiful world, and the more people do them, the greater the impact is.
But it’s not nearly enough.
While I will continue to do my part to fight climate change, I have to wonder why there isn’t an equal effort by those who have the biggest impact. According to a recent report, 71% of greenhouse gases are produced by just 100 companies. Surely, working to minimize their emissions (排放物) will do far more, much faster than me talking people’s ears off on Facebook about eating less meat. After all, I have been doing that kind of work for 20 years now, and we are still headed towards climate disaster.
Why should so much of the solution to global warming be on the shoulders of individuals?
When President Kennedy decided we needed to beat the Russians to the moon landing, he didn’t encourage housewives to figure out bow to get there. He got the smartest and most talented people together to solve the challenges. NASA got us there, with lots of hard work and late nights, and also full encouragement and funding from the US government.
But this is not the case with climate change. Big companies are let off the hook while we take on the huge burden of dealing with the emissions of the biggest and most powerful. That strikes me as just plain unfair. The serious threats of climate change require an all-hand-on-deck response. Corporations need to do their part, because I can’t do it on my own.
1. Why does the author choose not to have a child?A.America doesn’t have large amounts of resources. |
B.A child can’t justify the importance of her genes. |
C.She tries to avoid the trouble of raising a child. |
D.She wants to reduce her impact on the environment. |
A.Minimizing companies’ emissions. |
B.Recommending a vegetarian diet. |
C.Talking with friends on Facebook. |
D.Heading towards climate disaster. |
A.To praise housewives’ contribution. |
B.To remember a former president. |
C.To stress the importance of government’s role. |
D.To encourage NASA to take on the challenge. |
7 . Since the 1920s, a little-known policy called parking minimums has shaped many Americans’ life. In major cities, this meant that any type of building needed to reserve a certain number of parking spaces to accommodate anyone who might visit.
But as the country attempts to cut carbon emissions (排放), we should rethink what transportation and public space look like, especially in cities. Earlier this month, the city of Austin, Texas, became the latest community to undo parking minimums.
“If we want half of all trips to be in something other than a car, then we can’t, as a city, in my opinion, demand that every home or business have at least one parking space for each resident or customer,” said Zohaib Qadri, the Austin city council member who introduced the measure. Reducing dependency on cars was a huge push for the initiative in Austin. Qadri hopes the measure also will lead to a more sustainable city.
The undoing of this law could pave the way for cities to build denser (密集的) housing, increase public transit options, and reduce their carbon emissions, according to Donald Shoup, an engineer and professor. “It isn’t just the housing crisis and climate change; it’s a traffic jam; it’s local air pollution; it’s the high price of everything—except parking,” said Shoup.
Climate change and air pollution are particularly costly outcomes, with both estimated to cost the US billions of dollars every year. Parking spots, meanwhile, can run in the tens of thousands of dollars to construct, with one estimate putting that figure at almost $30, 000 per spot.
But undoing parking minimums does not mean that all parking will disappear overnight. It means that any off-street parking built will not need to meet any minimum standard.
“Austin is the same city that it was two weeks ago,” said Shoup. “It’s going to take quite a while for that city to really get the benefits of their parking space reforms. And so it just removes a roadblock and a barrier to other reforms.”
1. Why was parking minimums policy deserted in Austin?A.To make room for green belts. | B.To help tackle climate problems. |
C.To respond to residents’ demand. | D.To ease the heavy traffic. |
A.Parking space provides convenience. |
B.Cars are used for half of people’s trips. |
C.Each home needs more than one parking space. |
D.Reducing parking space can reduce dependency on cars. |
A.Supportive. | B.Concerned. | C.Doubtful. | D.Disappointed. |
A.The Harm of Climate Change | B.The Origin of Parking Minimums |
C.The Reason for Too Many Emissions | D.A Possible Way to Fight Climate Change |
8 . For centuries, historians and archaeologists have defined periods of human history by the technologies or materials that made the greatest impact on society — like the Stone Age, Bronze Age, or Iron Age. But what age are we in now? For some researchers, according to Atlas Obscura’s Cara Giamo, that question can be answered with one word: plastics.
“Plastic has redefined our material culture and the artifacts we leave behind. It will be found in stratified (分层) layers in our trash deposits (沉积层)” That’s according to archaeologist John Marston.
The wide variety of synthetic polymers (合成聚合物) would not exist if it weren’t for human action. Since the first plastic polymers were invented, about six billion tons of plastics have been made and spread around the planet, from forests to oceans ever since the first plastics polymers were invented.
Plastics are one of the most significant changes that humans have made to the Earth’s makeup. Most plastics don’t easily degrade. This only adds to the problem. Recycling isn’t an adequate solution. Not all types of plastic are easily recyclable. And there are only a few recycling plants that can process all varieties of plastic.
According to Debra Winter, writer for The Atlantic, this means that many of the materials thrown into recycling bins can cross the planet several times before they are processed. They are made into produce rugs, sweaters, or other bottles. Although millions of tons of plastic are recycled every year, millions more end up in landfills or the ocean. The problem has reached the point where it’s possible that in just a few decades there might be more plastic in the world’s oceans than fishes.
“Plastics have a supposed life span of over 500 years, it’s safe to say that every plastic bottle you have used exists somewhere on this planet, in some form or another,” Winter writes.
The damage may already be done. It may be too late for human populations worldwide to change their plastic-using ways. So the Plastic Age might soon take its place next to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the history of human civilization.
1. Why do people call our age the Plastic Age?A.Because plastics are not naturally made. | B.Because humans create plastics. |
C.Because plastics influence the world greatly. | D.Because historians and archaeologists think so. |
A.They are recycled | B.They are degraded |
C.They are thrown away | D.They are made into bottles |
A.Human beings are in the Plastic Age | B.Plastics have ruined our environment |
C.We must stop using plastics altogether | D.Plastics are significant to human development |
Written Chinese has also
The air is thin and we have to rest several times on the short hike from camp. To our left, snow-covered mountains
In the evening, I drink a cup of tea and watch the stars. I think about the antelopes and what Zhaxi told me.
10 . In 2014, Xu Yitang, a student at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, saw corals at an aquarium for the first time.
Little did he know the chance
“The coral organism is quite
As he became better
Fast-forward to today, he
Each day, he spends several hours diving deep under the waves to observe and
His story has been
A.incident | B.witness | C.encounter | D.appointment |
A.passion | B.vision | C.friendship | D.career |
A.study | B.frequent | C.examine | D.discover |
A.treating | B.preserving | C.selecting | D.growing |
A.tough | B.smooth | C.delicate | D.impressive |
A.benefits | B.requirements | C.expenses | D.responses |
A.reminded | B.informed | C.warned | D.convinced |
A.shelters | B.partners | C.opportunities | D.services |
A.Somehow | B.Nevertheless | C.Therefore | D.Unfortunately |
A.extinction | B.variation | C.decline | D.expansion |
A.responsibility | B.relief | C.achievement | D.belonging |
A.consults with | B.applies for | C.seeks out | D.acts as |
A.find out | B.note down | C.show off | D.speed up |
A.revised | B.contributed | C.announced | D.featured |
A.assess | B.follow | C.relate | D.invent |