1 . The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.
We
This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more aware of my
Our trip to Borneo was another life-changing
Besides, we were also deeply
Facing this global issue
A.stayed | B.visited | C.worked | D.stopped |
A.land | B.ocean | C.district | D.supermarket |
A.threw | B.picked | C.dropped | D.carried |
A.dream | B.family | C.impact | D.income |
A.travel | B.deliver | C.remove | D.play |
A.story | B.growth | C.experience | D.suffering |
A.better-off | B.healthy | C.comfortable | D.zero-waste |
A.free | B.cheap | C.valuable | D.safe |
A.failed | B.managed | C.hesitated | D.happened |
A.hurt | B.surprised | C.impressed | D.moved |
A.dramatic | B.sustainable | C.firm | D.disappointing |
A.dry up | B.tie up | C.clean up | D.take up |
A.on purpose | B.for sure | C.by accident | D.in person |
A.confusion | B.determination | C.frustration | D.satisfaction |
A.make | B.do | C.achieve | D.find |
In a small community located at a suburb of Exeter, a disheartening issue had been troubling the neighborhood for years. The once pleasant surroundings were ruined by piles of waste that seemed to multiply with each passing day. Residents were growing tired of the worsening environment, leading many to abandon their homes in search of cleaner neighborhoods. It was in this terrible situation that two young students, Emma and Mia, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Emma and Mia were classmates and best friends from Phillips Exeter Academy, both passionate about environmental preservation and deeply concerned about the pollution crisis their community was facing. Witnessing more and more neighbors’ leaving, they knew they couldn’t stand by any longer. Determined to bring about a change, they undertook a mission that would soon catch the attention of the entire community.
Their journey began with thorough research and planning. The two girls searched carefully on the Internet for information on environmental initiatives and connected with local environmentalists. They organized meetings with residents to understand the issues at hand, collecting data on the types of waste, the sources, and the areas most affected. Armed with this knowledge, Emma and Mia worked out a comprehensive plan and announced it to ask for opinions from the residents. Surprisingly it was strongly supported.
Their strategy was twofold. First, they initiated a waste classification and recycling program. They distributed recycling bins(回收箱) to every household and educated the community about the importance of responsible waste management. Soon, the streets began to show signs of improvement as the volume of garbage inappropriately thrown away decreased gradually.
The second part of their plan was more ambitious. Emma and Mia gathered volunteers from their school and the neighborhood to take part in a massive clean-up campaign. Armed with gloves and trash(垃圾)bags, they began systematically clearing the waste from the streets, parks, and even the local bodies of water. Their firm commitment and hard work inspired others to join the cause.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Half a year later, the changes were significant.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emma and Mia received recognition and honors for their work.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . A huge section of the Milne Ice Shelf, located on Ellesmere Island in the northern Canada, collapsed into the Arctic Ocean, according to the Canadian Ice Service. This created an “ice island” which is about 30 square miles in size. As a comparison, Manhattan Island is about 23 square miles.
“Entire cities are that size. These are big pieces of ice,” Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa who was part of the research team studying the ice shelf, told Reuters. “This was the largest remaining intact (完整的) ice shelf, and it’s collapsed, basically. ”
The Canadian Ice Service said on Twitter that “above-normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the ice shelf are all part of the recipe for the ice shelf to break up.” A huge section of the Milne Ice Shelf has collapsed into the Arctic Ocean, producing a 30-square-mile ice island.
The ice shelf has now been reduced in area by about 43%. An ice shelf is a thick slab of ice, attached to a coastline and extending out over the ocean, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “Some shelves have existed for thousands of years,” the center said.
So what’s going on up there? Though the planet is warming worldwide due to climate change, the Arctic has been warming at a rate twice that of the rest of the world. This summer has been particularly warm: Arctic sea ice melted to its lowest July level on record and in June, a town in Siberia soared (急升) to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, believed to be a record high for the Arctic.
“When I first visited those ice caps, they seemed like such a permanent fixture of the landscape,” Mark Serreze, director of the NSIDC and geographer at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a statement. “To watch them die in less than 40 years just blows me away.”
1. Why does the author mention Manhattan Island in Paragraph 1?A.To stress that Manhattan Island is vital for Canada. |
B.To introduce where Manhattan Island locates. |
C.To say the great collapse is terrible. |
D.To compare two different places. |
A.Its location. |
B.Its huge body. |
C.Special intact form. |
D.Higher air temperatures. |
A.Arctic sea ice melted to its lowest in June. |
B.Climate change brings about great changes. |
C.The earth is warming because of the loss of ice shelf. |
D.The Arctic warms more slowly than the rest of the world. |
A.Shocked. | B.Humorous. |
C.Scientific. | D.Neutral. |
4 . “There’s a little black woman walking, spraying (喷洒) stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence...” he told the police. Her neighbor saw her spraying something on the sidewalks and trees and this made him worried. In the call to 911, he described the child as “a little black woman”.
Well, the “little black woman” was actually 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson, a young scientist. The fourth-grader had created her own insecticide (杀虫剂) to fight spotted lanternflies (斑衣蜡蝉). She came across the recipe on TikTok and had recently learned that the harmful species damages trees because they feed on their sap (树液). Bobbi was simply testing out her invention in her neighborhood when the police call was made.
“That’s her thing,” her mother Monique Joseph said. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.” Bobbi’s 13-year-old sister, Hayden Wilson, also defended her, noting that Bobbi “was not only doing something amazing for our environment, but she was also doing something that made her feel like a hero”. Luckily, what happened didn’t influence Bobbi’s spirit and has led to some positive experiences for her.
She has since been recognized by several organizations for her environmental efforts. She has also been invited on special tours. One took place at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Another was given by the United States Department of Agriculture of New Jersey at a plant where they discussed lanternflies. But that’s not where her recognition ends! The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) honored Bobbi with their Sustainability Award for her work to save trees and fight lanternflies.
“We were excited that she was doing that,” Ann Marchioni of the ANJEC said. Ann added that the organization praises volunteers for being “hands-on” in their community. In addition to the award, she and her family got to visit with a group of black female scientists at Yale University. They showed her various labs and even invited her to donate lanternfly specimens (标本) for the university’s work.
1. What made the neighbor call the police?A.A girl climbing trees. | B.A girl spraying something. |
C.A girl littering the sidewalks. | D.A girl testing something dangerous. |
A.Ashamed. | B.Proud. | C.Shocked. | D.Relieved. |
A.Those whose donations help ANJEC. |
B.Those who can do something creative in their university. |
C.Those whose environmental awareness is quite impressive. |
D.Those who can do something practical in their community. |
A.Creative and determined. | B.Watchful and serious. |
C.Friendly and generous. | D.Talkative and strict. |
1.世界地球日的意义。
2.你的具体行动(至少两条)。
参考词汇:世界地球日 World Earth Day
注意:1.词数 100 左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Dear Leslie,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
When Zhou Longshan started filming birds 10 years ago at Baiyangdian Lake,
Then things snowballed. In the following years, the teacher became a bird watcher, a volunteer ranger at the lake, a photographer
“Sharing bird-protection knowledge with children can make them feel the
Growing up in a local village, Zhou,60, has fond childhood memories
“When I was a child, the water in Baiyangdian was limpid. The fish and aquatic plants in the water could be seen clearly,” he said. “I often caught fish with my friends, rowed boats and drank the lake water
Between the 1960s and 1980s,
When Zhou became a teacher in the 1990s, the stink from the lake could sometimes be smelled from his village. “The lake became stinking, the population and species of fish and birds decreased, and the locals were unwilling to go near the lake,” he recalled.
Since the Xiong’an New Area was established in 2017, Baiyangdian’s rehabilitation and protection activities
Zhou will retire in June. “I will continue patrolling the lake and photographing the birds, to contribute to the protection of birds in my hometown,” he said.
7 . About 40% of all food grown in the world goes uneaten each year, according to a World Wildlife Fund report from last year. And when food ends up in landfills, it produces huge amounts of greenhouse gases. So it’s no surprise that the app Too Good to Go designed to be opposed to this problem—by giving consumers the opportunity to purchase leftover, out-of-date or ugly food at discount prices—has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Users of the Too Good to Go app can search for local restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores—and purchase surprise bags filled with whatever food is left over at the end of the day. The bags range in price from about $3 to $5, but they’re stocked with food about three times that value. So customers are also getting a steep discount.
Too Good to Go first launched in Europe in 2015 and opened in the US in October 2020.Today it’s available in cities including Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Philadelphia. And the app saves 300,000 meals a day from ending up in landfills around the world.
Besides saving meals from ending up in the trash, Too Good to Go’s primary aim is to increase awareness of food waste, eventually encouraging consumers to effect policy change in their local communities.
“The whole food chain is wasting food. So we need to help,” said Lucie Basch, co-founder of the app Too Good to Go.” But for us, starting with the consumers and raising awareness with a super simple app that anyone can download and start using today was really the opportunity to make a difference for us.”
1. What is the purpose of designing the app Too Good to Go?A.To fight against food waste. | B.To recycle the leftover food. |
C.To reduce air pollution. | D.To deal with world hunger. |
A.enveloped | B.housed | C.filled | D.coated |
A.It still has a long way to go |
B.It can change the existing food chain. |
C.It should work together with more grocery stores. |
D.It can help improve related policies of communities. |
A.The Main Cause of Food Waste | B.The Solution for Greenhouse Gases |
C.A New App Helps People Reduce Waste | D.A Consumption Concept Becomes Popular |
8 . In Denmark, bicycling is one of the primary forms of transportation. In sunshine, rain and snow, you will see cyclists on their way to work, to the grocery store, or to social events. The bike is a Dane’s best friend.
Danish cycling culture is as old as the bicycle itself. Bikes were first introduced to the country in the 1880s, and during the 1920s and 1930s, the bicycle became a widespread symbol of equality and freedom. People of all social classes began biking side by side— in the cities on their way to work and in the countryside on their days off.
The increased prosperity of the late 1950s saw some Danes replacing bikes with motorcycles and automobiles. Just like their colleagues around the world, Danish urban planners believed the future belonged to cars, trucks, and ever-wider highways. In the early 1970s, however, the Mideast oil crisis terminated that development. “Car Free Sundays” were introduced in Copenhagen, and protests demanding Copenhagen to become car-free took place. Over time, concerns about air pollution, climate change, and the need for people to get enough exercise have helped bicycles make a big comeback. Denmark’s heavy taxes on petrol and automobiles are a factor, too.
Today, cycling is an inseparable part of Danish culture. Newcomers who do not know how to cycle are encouraged to learn as soon as they arrive. Danish children usually learn to bike before they begin school at the age of six—and often much earlier. In school, children learn about traffic rules, road safety, and the importance of wearing a helmet as well as good cycling habits. Another alternative for families with children is the cargo bike—a sort of oversized tricycle with a large wooden box on the front. It’s estimated that a quarter of all Copenhagen families with two or more children own one of these cargo bikes for transporting kids, groceries, and other necessities. Danish cargo bikes have also won design awards and become a Danish export success.
Commuting by bike is the fastest, easiest and most environmentally friendly way to get around the cities of Denmark. And the numbers speak for themselves: Residents who cycle in Copenhagen request 1.1 million fewer sick days. Cyclists reduce CO2 emissions by 20, 000 tonnes a year on average.
1. What led to the popularity of bicycles in Denmark during the 1920s and 1930s?A.The convenience of the bike. | B.The prosperity of the economy. |
C.The construction of wide highways. | D.The idea that the bike represents. |
A.promoted | B.ended. | C.permitted. | D.funded. |
A.They are primarily used by families with one child. |
B.They are unpopular among local residents. |
C.They are designed for practical use. |
D.They are the national symbol of Denmark. |
A.To highlight the popularity of cycling. | B.To compare cycling with driving. |
C.To show the benefits of cycling. | D.To demonstrate the effectiveness of cycling. |
1. 世界地球日的宗旨;
2. 保护地球的具体活动并提出倡议。
注意:1. 词数100 左右;
2. 标题已为你写好。
The World Earth Day
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . Working at a bank in New York City in the mid-2010s, Anna Sacks was not living the life she wanted. Sure, she was happy. But she wanted to do something that felt important.
Some people seeking meaning might read a self-help book or perhaps volunteer a few hours a week. Sacks packed up her life and moved to Connecticut to participate in Adamah, a farming program that focuses on sustainable living and growing sustainable food. When she returned to New York, her life was with a new purpose and many new skills to make her dreams a reality.
“One of the things that really stuck with me from Adamah was how little waste they produced and how they handled the waste they did have, primarily through composting (堆肥),” she says. The Adamah program opened Sacks’ eyes to the damage consumer culture is doing on a local, national, and global level, and the need to find solutions. So in 2017, she began what she calls “trash walking”.
During tours around her community, Sacks picks through garbage to look for reusable items. Soon, her “trash walking” expanded to include corporate trash along with residential trash. Surprisingly, she discovered a wide range of really great stuff-like clothing, decorations, and food -all of which she documents on TikTok.
Under the name The Trash Walker, Sacks quickly gained popularity for her videos that highlight the problems with consumerism. “The root issue is overproduction, which leads to overconsumption, which leads to a large amount of waste,” she says.
The fact is, companies often choose to trash items rather than give them away to people who might need them. A big reason for this waste is the way our current tax laws are structured, Sacks says. Sellers who destroy goods can claim the cost as a loss on their taxes and be refunded. If they give away goods, they can claim only a small amount as a charitable reduction on their taxes.
Sacks’ main focus is simply getting people to pay attention to how many unnecessary things they buy and then throw away. “Once you become aware of the way you consume, you can see ways you improve, ”she says.
1. Why did Anna Sacks leave New York?A.To learn how to grow food. | B.To pursue a more meaningful life. |
C.To realize her dream as a volunteer. | D.To accept the invitation from a program. |
A.The significance of trash walking. | B.The hard truth of consumer culture. |
C.The sustainable food people produced. | D.The way people there dealt with the waste. |
A.The tax refund. | B.The tax reduction. |
C.The overproduction. | D.The poor quality of goods. |
A.Consumer culture accounts for wasting. | B.Corporate trash outweighs residential trash. |
C.Turning to farming leads to sustainable living. | D.Trash walking is the key to becoming wealthy. |