1 . How many plastic carrier bags have you got in your house? I feel like these plastic bags are taking over my home! The ubiquitous(无处不在的) shopping bag is just one example of the million things made from plastic. But unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to recycle and this is causing an environmental problem.
Most of our everyday plastic items end up in landfill, left to rot(腐烂) away for many years. But some of it blows away, doing harm to the countryside and causing damage to the natural environment and wildlife. The problem is most serious in our oceans. Research has found a remote island in the South Pacific is filled with the largest amount of plastic waste anywhere in the world.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, described how remote islands become collecting points for fishing items and everyday things that we throw away. When we throw something away, it doesn’t just disappear. Nor does plastic, which takes a long time to rot and stays there causing great damage to the ocean’s ecology. Worse still, this plastic is broken down into small parts over a long period by the wind and the waves, then sea creatures at the bottom of the food chain eat them. These creatures are eaten by the fish that we finally take in.
The solution to this problem would be to use less plastic. Several countries now charge for using plastic carrier bags and some products now use natural and recyclable materials but it seems inevitable that plastic will continue to be necessary in many of small goods that we demand.
So next time you pick up a carrier bag, or buy a plastic bottle of water, spare a thought for the birds and animals on the island. What do you do to help the environment?
1. Which area of our planet is most affected by plastic waste?| A．Oceans | B．Islands |
| C．Landfill | D．Countryside |
| A．Fish are at the bottom of the food chain. |
| B．People like to throw things on the islands. |
| C．People will be the final sufferer of the plastic waste. |
| D．It takes a short time for the plastic waste to break down. |
| A．Useless | B．Unavoidable |
| C．Strange | D．Impossible |
| A．Be environmentally friendly. |
| B．Be kind to birds and animals. |
| C．Make a difference for the future. |
| D．Get rid of plastic carrier bags completely. |
“Judy, hurry up! Let’s go to the beach!” That was a familiar morning call from my older brother, Sirin. Hearing that, I would spring up quickly and we would set off on our journey. Raised by our grandparents in Savanna, we experienced our happiest moments there. Nestled between the mountains and the sea, with its lush green trees, crystal-like ocean, and clear blue sky, Savanna was like a small village from a fairy tale.
Sirin and I often enjoyed the gentle sea breeze as we explored the breathtaking coast, with the endless, open water beside us and the vast, clear sky overhead. We felt a sense of freedom to wander the sandy beach or experience the excitement of sailing out to sea, delighting in the awe-inspiring beauty of nature’s wonders. When we grew tired, leisurely walking on the soft, warm sands to collect unique, fascinating seashells brought us a different kind of peaceful joy. The friendly, warmhearted villagers treated us like family, often sharing their freshly-caught seafood with us.
Three years later, we were taken away from the village to receive a better education by our parents. Occupied with our study, we rarely visited our beloved grandparents, only calling them occasionally. We gradually adapted to the fast-paced city life and found it more efficient and convenient. Whenever we had an appetite for seafood, our dad would simply order it through his phone, and it would be delivered to our doorstep within minutes. However, deep within us, we sometimes longed for the simple pleasures of village life. We were told by our grandparents that more and more tourists flooded into the village, which strengthened our desire to return. So, when the eagerly-awaited summer vacation arrived this year, we finally made our dream trip back to our childhood paradise. After greeting our grandparents with hugs and smiles, we eagerly headed towards the sun-kissed seaside to relive our cherished memories.
注意：
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However, what we saw shocked us.
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Hearing Grandfather’s words, we couldn’t wait to do something to tackle the pollution.
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3 . From Dec 7 to 19, delegates from around the world met at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (also known as COP15), in Montreal, Canada. After two weeks of intense debate at COP15, delegates agreed on Dec 19 to adopt a landmark plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. “Finally, we reached our destiny. We adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China’s minister of ecology and environment, announced on Dec 19.
The new framework is a commitment by 196 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by the next decade. It also will increase the expected annual financial assistance from developed countries through 2030 to help developing nations with biodiversity protection.
The aim of COP15 is to ensure biodiversity loss is changed by 2030, and that humans are able to live in harmony with nature by 2050. To realize these objectives can be very challenging. At COP10 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the parties agreed on the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets (爱知生物多样性目标). But, as of now, none of the 20 objectives has been fully realized.
It is important to turn consensus into effective actions. Yet, as recent talks have shown, an aspect of effective international action on stopping climate change is the cooperation of developed countries. Developed countries, however, have fallen short of their responsibility as they have failed to fulfill the obligations according to the COP convention to provide funding and technology to poorer nations who lack the means to combat climate change.
To solve this problem, the framework creates a new biodiversity fund within the UN’s existing Global Environment Facility. This came about as a compromise between developing nations, which wanted a new fund, and developed countries, which did not. In addition, a global youth initiative (倡议) was also released, hoping young people to be leaders and advocates for biodiversity conservation.
1. What is the aim of COP15?| A．To save at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean area by next decade. |
| B．To stop biodiversity loss and promote harmony between man and nature. |
| C．To strengthen the cooperation between developed and developing countries. |
| D．To provide funding and technology to poorer nations to fight climate change. |
| A．To show the parties didn’t fulfill the obligation. |
| B．To show the parties didn’t take the objectives seriously. |
| C．To show it is difficult to realize the objectives of COP 15. |
| D．To show Japan didn’t hold the meeting successfully. |
| A．International cooperation is important. |
| B．A new framework is made in the COP15. |
| C．Joint efforts are needed to fight climate change. |
| D．Historic COP 15 deals are released on biodiversity. |
4 . Growing up in the Philippines,construction worker Johnny Manlugay combs the beaches each night for the eggs of sea turtles. He knows exactly what to look for,as he was trained as a child by his grandfather on how to locate the animals and their eggs. Back then,his family traded or ate them. It wasn’t about getting rich as much as it was just a part of life.
Manlugay has since turned over a new leaf. Instead,he uses his tracking skills to protect the sea turtles that visit the beaches he lives by.
“I’ve learned to love this work,”Manlugay acknowledged in an interview.“We didn’t know poaching(偷猎)was illegal and that we should not eat turtle eggs and meat.”
Manlugay delicately transferred each egg into a bucket he brought with him,as well as some sand from the turtle nests,to be handed over to Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions(CURMA)，the group leading the conservation program on the beaches.
Established in 2009,the CURMA conservation effort has gradually transformed sea turtle poachers into valuable allies(盟友). They manage this by offering training to ultimately save thousands of turtles and keep their eggs from ending up everywhere but their nests.
“We talked to the poachers,and it turned out poaching was just another means for them to earn a living,”explained Carlos Tamayo,the director of operations.“They had no choice.”
On average,sea turtles lay 100 eggs in a nest. The number of nests in the area ranges between 35and 40 each season,which runs from October to February. Tamayo noted that the figures had doubled during the first year of the COVID pandemic.“Last season alone,for example,we had 75 nests and we released close to 9,000 hatching,”he shared.
Once collected,the eggs are then transferred to CURMA’s hatchery(孵化场)to be reburied in protected areas. Another former poacher,Jessie Cabagbag,grew up eating turtle meat and eggs like many people there.“I stopped poaching when we underwent training and were taught that what we have been doing was illegal and that these species of turtles are endangered,”he explained. Now,he admits,“I am truly proud. I am happy that I get to contribute to the conservation of the turtles.”
1. Why did Johnny Manlugay hunt turtles as a child?| A．To make a living. | B．To make a fortune. | C．To protect them. | D．To locate them. |
| A．To sell them. |
| B．To hatch them. |
| C．To hand them over to a conservation organization. |
| D．To bury them under some sand near the turtle nests. |
| A．About 7500. | B．Close to 9.000. |
| C．From 3500 to 4000. | D．Between 3500 and 10000. |
| A．Sea Turtles are Well Protected in the Philippines. |
| B．Local People in the Philippines Search the Beaches for Sea Turtle Eggs. |
| C．The Conservation Program Aims to Save Endangered Turtles. |
| D．Former Turtle Egg Poachers in the Philippines Turn Protectors. |
5 . The State of California is depending on its forests to help cut down planet-warming CO2. But that climate-change strategy may be risky, as new research from the University of California, Irvine(UCI)reports that trees in California’s mountains and open spaces are dying from wildfires and other pressures — and fewer new trees are filling the blank.
“The forests are not keeping up with these large fires,” said study co-author James Randerson, the Ralph J. and Carol M. Cicerone Professor of Earth system science at UCI. Across the whole state, tree cover area has dropped 6.7% since 1985. “These are big changes in less than forty years,” he said. It’s the first time that researchers have been able to measure tree population fall in California, and find out the reasons (wildfires and woodcutting).
For the study, the UCI-led team used satellite data from the USGS and NASA’s Landsat mission to study plant changes between 1985 and 2021. They found that one of the most obvious falls in tree cover was in southern California, where 14% of the tree population in local mountain had disappeared, maybe everlastingly.
“The ability of forests to recover(恢复)from fire appears to be dwindling in the south,” said Jonathan Wang, a researcher in Randerson’s research group, who led the study coming out in AGU Advances. “At the same time, the state’s coverage of bushes and grasses is rising, which could mean more everlasting ecosystem shifts(生态系统转化).”
“The speed and scale of fall in tree cover is different across the state. Tree cover in the Sierra Nevada, for example, stayed relatively unchanged until around 2010, then began dropping suddenly. Fortunately, in the north, there’s plenty of recovery after fire,” said Wang, perhaps because of the area’s higher rainfall and cooler temperatures. “This threat(威胁) to California’s climate solutions isn’t going away anytime soon,” Wang said. “We might be entering a new age of bigger fire and vulnerable(易受损的) forests.”
1. What mainly helped California cut down CO2?| A．Energy saving. | B．Rich forests. |
| C．Less vehicles. | D．Fine weather. |
| A．Poor soil. |
| B．Continual floods. |
| C．High demand for farmland and food. |
| D．Large wildfires and people’s cutting trees. |
| A．California’s trees will die out in the future. |
| B．California’s environment will face a big challenge. |
| C．Wildfires seriously threaten California’s tree cover. |
| D．The reason for California wildfires has been found out. |
6 . Soot (煤) pollution is speeding up climate-driven melting in Antarctica, a new study suggests, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from the increasing number of humans who want to visit.
“It really makes us question, is our presence really needed?” says Alia Khan, one of the authors of the new study. “We have quite a large black carbon footprint in Antarctica, which is enhancing snow and ice melt.”
Black carbon is the leftover thing from burning plants or fossil fuels. Soot in Antarctica comes primarily from waste gases of cruise ships (游轮), vehicles and airplanes, although some pollution travels on the wind from other parts of the globe. The dark particles (微粒) coat white snow and absorb heat from the sun the way a black T-shirt does on a warm day. The blanket of dark bits speeds up melting that was already happening more quickly because of global warming.
When snow and ice are uncovered, they reflect an enormous amount of sunlight before it can turn into heat. “These are the mirrors on our planet,” says Sonia Nagorski, a scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast. “When those mirrors are covered in a film of dark bits, they don’t send back that much light and heat. That means more heat is trapped on Earth, speeding up melting and contributing to global warming.”
As a scientist who personally visits Antarctica every year, Khan says she is troubled by her own research results. On the one hand, she goes to Antarctica to collect crucial data about how quickly the snow and ice there are disappearing. “But then when we come to conclusions like this it really does make us think twice about how frequently we need to visit the continent,” she says, “and what kind of regulations should be placed on tourism as well.” That could mean requiring that cruise ships and vehicles be electric, for example, or limiting the number of visitors each year.
1. What is Khan’s attitude towards human actions in Antarctica according to paragraph 2?| A．Angry and abusive. | B．Cold and uninterested. |
| C．Doubtful and anxious. | D．Admiring and delighted. |
| A．The quick melting of ice and snow. | B．The emission from virous transport. |
| C．The remaining parts of burning plants. | D．The floating gases from other continents. |
| A．The covered ice is less reflective. |
| B．The melting speed of ice is slower than before. |
| C．The dark blanket serves as a big mirror. |
| D．The sunlight gets increasingly stronger recently. |
| A．What made our planet so polluted? | B．Who is to blame for air pollution? |
| C．Can electric vehicles save tourism? | D．Are we welcome to the South Pole? |
7 . For an industry that thrives (蓬勃发展) on creativity, fashion has been slow to introduce new ideas to reduce its distinctly uncool environmental footprint.
On all three fronts in the planetary crisis — climate change, nature loss and waste — manufacturers and retailers (零售商) of clothing could, and must, do better. Their carbon emissions are huge, thirst for raw materials is unsustainable (不可持续的) and waste management systems are rubbish. As just one example, every year we send 350,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill in the UK.
There are growing pockets of green creativity in the industry, but for the most part high-street brands seem to double down on the “fast fashion” business model.
We as consumers must also shoulder a large part of the blame, gladly stuffing our cupboards with cheap, bad and unsustainably produced clothes to be worn a few times and then thrown away. Most people on Earth participate in this wasteful cycle, helping to make clothing one of the most environmentally destructive industries.
Unlike some other damaging consumer choices, such as buying animal products, it isn’t really possible to simply choose out of clothes shopping. But of course there are ways of consuming that are less harmful. If patterns of demand change, such as changing to brands that run buy-back schemes for unwanted clothing, the industry will respond. More powerfully, we can simply choose to wear our clothes for longer. Keeping an article of clothing for an extra year can cut its environmental footprint by 30 per cent.
That, of course, requires a change in our mindsets. But such things can and do happen. A few years ago, plant-based diets were the choice of the unconventional few. Now they are commonplace.
We need the same revolution to happen when it comes to clothing choices. Here’s a make-do-and-mend mindset becoming mainstream — and even fashionable.
1. What’s the author’s attitude to the carbon footprint of the fashion industry?| A．Satisfied. | B．Uncared. | C．Negative. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Stop shopping for new clothes. |
| B．Making old clothes last longer. |
| C．Throwing out your unwanted clothes. |
| D．Buying expensive and designer clothes. |
| A．He is an advocate of plant-based diets. |
| B．Plant-based diets are increasingly popular. |
| C．Plant-based diets are environmentally friendly. |
| D．He wants to stress it’s possible to change mindsets. |
| A．Make Do and Mend | B．Personal Clothing Choices |
| C．The Future of Fashion Industry | D．Reduce Carbon Emissions |
8 . Over the last 50 years, the environmental movement has become so closely associated with the color green that it’s almost impossible to see a green poster, label or recycling bag without thinking about our plane’s future. But though that connection is the product of a very recent crisis, its origins go back some way. We have identified green with nature and its processes for thousands of years. Indeed, the very word “green” comes from the ancient Proto-Indo-European word ghre, meaning “grow”.
The human species has a special biological bond with green. Unlike most mammals, which are red-green color blind, we developed a third cone cell. This additional photoreceptor (光感受器) enabled our ancestors to spot ripe red and yellow fruits against the green ones, and to distinguish different green leaves from each other. In daylight conditions, human eyes are more sensitive to green than any other colors.
All over the world, people shared feelings with nature through green materials. Jade, for instance, was used to make objects that would guarantee a successful harvest. The Maya buried their leaders with jade masks for this reason. The ancient Egyptians, who were farming the banks of the Nile from about 8000 BC, identified their crops with green. Their term for the color was wadj, which also meant flourish (繁荣). Egyptian painters often described their god of agriculture, Osiris, as a bright green being.
While the future of our planet remains uncertain, many scientists are convinced that leaves will prove to be a decisive weapon in our battle against climate change. This is as it should be. After all, for early farmers waiting for schools to emerge from the soil and for modern-day activists determined to bring about a sustainable future, green was, and is, a color of hope—after a long cold winter or a drought-ridden summer, the arrival of green will signal a new beginning.
1. What has happened over the past 50 years according to the text?| A．People have been used to buying recycled paper bags. |
| B．A large number of posters have been designed by artists. |
| C．Many factories have closed down due to the serious pollution. |
| D．The environmental movement has greatly affected the Earth’s future. |
| A．They have a special bond with red. |
| B．Their eyes are more sensitive to red. |
| C．They lack a kind of photoreceptor cell. |
| D．Their brains have additional photoreceptors. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By raisin a question. | D．By using statistics. |
| A．Crucial. | B．Abstract. | C．Complex. | D．Distant. |
9 . In the story of the three little pigs, the one who built his house of straw did not do well; the big bad wolf blew it down. But builder Michael Furbish, who made his own home from bales (捆) of straw, and an elementary school from the same material, says that in reality straw houses are not only strong, but also good for the environment. Straw—the stalks (杆，茎) of plants like wheat, oats, and barley—is considered a waste material and is commonly used on farms as animal bedding. But more and more people are discovering that straw baled into rectangular blocks is an excellent and inexpensive building material.
There are two ways to make a straw-bale structure. You can build load-bearing walls with them, which means the walls support the roof. Or you can build a post-and-beam wooden frame that supports the roof and fill in the walls with the bales. Either way, the walls are there to stay. And they provide great insulation (绝缘), helping keep straw houses in cold climates warm in winter and those built in hot places like the desert cool in summer. Straw is considered a “green” building material because it is a renewable resource: a whole new crop can be grown and harvested every year, easily “renewing” the supply. Also, planting and harvesting straw uses relatively little energy. “Most other building materials require a lot of energy to be produced,” explains Furbish. “With straw-bale construction, you are getting a building product without using much energy at all.”
Furbish used about 900 straw bales in his family’s two-story, three-bedroom house. His company also provided straw-bale walls for the Friends Community School of College Park in Maryland. That project used about 4, 000 bales. When asked if there are any problems with living in a straw house, like mice nibbling (咬，啃). On the walls, Furbish points out that the straw is completely covered with plaster and stucco (灰泥). Besides, he has a couple of cats on mouse watch, just in case. “It would be hard to find a wall system that will wear better than straw,” he says. The big bad wolf is just out of luck.
1. The author wrote the passage in order to_________.| A．prove that the tale of the three pigs and the wolf is wrong |
| B．teach readers how to build straw houses |
| C．introduce an environmentally-friendly building material |
| D．advertise Furbish’s special houses |
| A．It costs little to make such special houses. |
| B．The outsides of the houses are green. |
| C．They are mostly built in the desert. |
| D．Plaster and stucco help make the houses strong. |
| A．straw houses are in fact nice and strong |
| B．the big bad wolf can’t blow straw houses down |
| C．the big bad wolf is very unlucky |
| D．people in straw houses needn't worry about wolves |
| A．living in a straw house, one has to keep several cats |
| B．the walls of a straw house help keep heat inside in cold climates |
| C．it is best to build a straw house at harvest time |
| D．we need 900 straw bales to build one straw house |
10 . Be a Green Kid
What does it mean to be green? “Green” is more than just a color.
Reduce it!
Reuse it!
Sometimes people call our society “a throwaway society”. That means we’re a little too willing to throw away old stuff and buy some stuff.
Recycle(循环再利用) it!
Recycling has never been easier. Many communities will pick those things up right in front of your house. Tell your mom and dad you want to become “Chief of Recycling” for your household.
Enjoy it!
It’s true that trash and pollution are problems, but the Earth remains a huge and wonderful place for you to explore.
| A．It’s also one less toy that needs to be produced. |
| B．Enjoy outdoor activities in all sorts of weather. |
| C．That means you’ll organize the recyclable items (物品) in bins. |
| D．It also means taking special steps to protect the environment. |
| E．Even if you no longer need something, someone else might need. |
| F．You can start by visiting the naturally beautiful spots in your city. |
| G．When you use less of something, you do a good thing for the Earth. |
