2 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource. org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.

But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, meal-worms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that meal-worms can digest plastic. One meal-worm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.

Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠) . The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.

“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space-is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.

About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.

1. What do we know about Styrofoam?

A．It can be used to cool drinks.	B．It is a weightless material.
C．It is harmful when recycled.	D．It is usually used on ships.

2. What can we infer from the second paragraph?

A．Meal-worms have amazing digesting power.	B．Meal-worms are not bad in their nature.
C．Meal-worms can rescue people’s lives.	D．People misunderstood meal-worms in the past.

3. In the future, plastic may be recycled _______.

A．by raising amounts of meal-worms	B．by environmental engineering instructors
C．using a method inspired by eating meal-worms	D．without sending out dangerous pollution

4. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Styrofoam is widely used in daily life.	B．Meal-worms are genius at eating plastic
C．Plastic recycling may be no more a problem.	D．Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide

3 . 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。

According to Science Daily, the Arctic, the only natural habitat for polar bears, is in danger. Sea ice in the area could disappear    1    (complete) by 2035. This is undoubtedly bad news for the animal, as they use the floating sea ice to hunt.

Scientist made this    2    (predict) by using the UK Met Office’s Hadley Center climate model. This model allowed researchers    3    (compare) Arctic sea ice conditions during the last interglacial period-the warm period that     4    (occur) around 127, 000 years ago-to present day conditions. Researchers found during the last interglacial period many shallow pools of water formed on the surface of the Arctic sea ice. These pools     5    (know) as melt ponds, played a crucial role in the melting of the sea ice. This is because if there are larger areas of melt ponds, more heat    6    (absorb) by sea ice, which causes it to melt further.

In the last interglacial period, the Arctic sea ice actually disappeared. This is a    7    (frighten) thought for scientists     8    see the pattern repeating. “If what is happening to the Arctic right now is anything like the last interglacial period, there is     9    chance that it could be virtually free of sea ice in only 15 years,” the researchers said.

In addition     10    the potential extinction of some animal species, the melting of sea ice could cause devastating natural disasters.

5 . Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we discard is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste produced every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Now ways are being found to give it a new life.

There’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic garbage. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of the many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo said, “This project allows you to reduce waste, lengthen the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault. ”

Electronics consist of materials like plastic, metals, chemicals and glass. As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales includes extracting (提取) these materials from electronic items. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 components, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.

These projects make total sense — collections of e-waste for recycling are not progressing or even decreasing according to Ruediger Kuehr of the United Nations University. And in countries where there are no recycling laws, much of it is got rid of. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to settle the problem by insisting business firms have to make appliances longer-lasting and have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.

1. What does the underlined word “discard” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．throw away	B．take apart
C．make the best of	D．put together

2. What does the Restart Project in London help people do?

A．Collect electronic garbage.	B．Use their electronics longer.
C．Buy good-quality electronics.	D．Get jobs in recycling companies.

3. Which part of electrical items can be mined and used again?

A．Hard plastic.	B．Precious metals.
C．Toughened glass.	D．Various chemicals.

4. What is suggested in the last paragraph about the problem of e-waste?

A．Improving recycling process.	B．Replacing spare parts timely.
C．Using electronics permanently.	D．Making e-waste recycling laws.

7 . The endangered pandas in the Qinling Mountains might face a new threat: the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.

Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.

A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature rises 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century,” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.

He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening all around the world.”

In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.

“But it is far from enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from the World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.

The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.

1. How many wild pandas are there in China?

A．About 260.	B．About 635.
C．About 2,635.	D．About 2,000.

2. What does Liu Jianguo mean in Paragraph 4?

A．China needs more help from the World Wildlife Fund.

B．It is difficult to control the temperature rise within 3.5℃.

C．Bamboo is sensitive to the changes of temperature.

D．China is making great efforts to protect the pandas.

3. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．The Qinling Mountains can provide enough bamboo for the pandas.

B．Pandas in the Qinling Mountains are only threatened by the loss of food.

C．Lots of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains will probably disappear.

D．Pandas have already eaten 99% of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．The Disappearance of Bamboo

B．Necessity to Change Pandas’ Food

C．A New Threat Faced by the Pandas

D．Efforts Made to Save Pandas

8 . Up to one fifth of the Amazon rainforest is emitting more carbon dioxide (CO₂), than it absorbs, new research suggests. Results from a decade-long study of greenhouse gases over the Amazon rainforest appear to show around 20% of the total area has become a net source of CO₂ in the atmosphere. One of the main causes is deforestation. While trees are growing, they absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere; dead trees release it again. However, the fact is that millions of trees have been lost to logging and fires in recent years.

The results of the study, which have not yet been published, have implications for the effort to combat climate change. They suggest that the Amazon rainforest, a vital carbon “store”, or “sink”, that slows the pace of global warming may be turning into a carbon source faster than previously thought. Every two weeks for the past 10 years, a team of scientists led by Professor Luciana Gatti, a researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), has been measuring greenhouse gases by flying aircraft fitted with sensors over different parts of the Amazon basin. What the group found was startling: while most of the rainforest still retains its ability to absorb large quantities of CO₂ — especially in wetter years — one portion of the forest, which is especially heavily deforested, appears to have lost that capacity.

Gatti’s research suggests this south-eastern part of the forest, about 20% of the total area, has become a carbon source. “Each year is worse,” she told Newsnight. “We observed that this area in the south-east is an important source of carbon. And it doesn’t matter whether it is a wet year or a dry year. 2017 was a wet year, but it didn’t make any difference.”

A forest can become a source of carbon rather than a “store”, or “sink”, when trees die and emit carbon into the atmosphere. Areas of deforestation also contribute to the Amazon’s inability to absorb carbon.

Carlos Nobre, who co-authored Prof Gatti’s study, called the observation “very worrying” because “it could be showing the beginnings of a major tipping point”. He believes the new findings suggest that in the next 30 years, more than half of the Amazon could transform from rainforest into savanna (稀树草原).

1. Which of the following might Professor Luciana Gatti agree with?

A．Most of the Amazon rainforest absorbs more CO2 in wetter years.

B．The Amazon rainforest is on its way to becoming the biggest source of carbon.

C．Deforested areas tend to perform better in terms of absorbing carbon in dry years.

D．The Amazon rainforest has completely lost its ability to slow the pace of global warming.

2. What does the underlined word probably mean?

A．Striking.

B．Convincing.

C．Confusing.

D．Disgusting.

3. What part of the Amazon rainforest has lost most trees?

A．Northeastern.

B．Southwestern.

C．Southeastern.

D．Northwestern.

4. What might be talked about in the following paragraph? ______

A．Other worrying phenomena about the Amazon.

B．More explanations for the “Amazon tipping point”.

C．Other peopled opinions on effects of deforestation.

D．Comparison between old findings and new ones.

9 . 假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

As is known by us, our government is trying to make our city the National Civilized City at present. We hope we can also do our best to help realize this goal.

First of all, we should mind our words and deeds and become civilized citizens. Always remember to say “Please” and “Thanks” and don’t talk and laugh loudly in public. Seen people in trouble, we might as well to lend them a helping hand. In addition, be civilized pedestrians. We must observe traffic rules and never cross the streets before the traffic lights are red. At same time, keeping our environment cleanly is also advisable, it means we shouldn’t litter or spit in public places. Only by starting with the little things around us we make a great difference to our city image.

Let’s take measure now and make joint efforts to make our city more civilized.

10 . 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。

A material can be really special when it was named after the place where it     1     (create) originally. That’s certainly the case with “China”. And of all     2     (type) of China, white porcelain (瓷) is among the most famous.

Nowadays, the     3     (tradition) material has taken on a modern look in the     4     (hand) of four Chinese artists in the Modern White Porcelain Exhibition. And the key word here is “modern”. One of the works     5     (be) a porcelain boat. But look     6     (attentive) and you will see that the boat     7     (build) with porcelain looks like a takeout box. Inside the boat is a statue of a baby. The baby stands     8     humans and the boat is what supports life. It suggests we may have done some damage to     9     environment and that we’re treating life like fast food.

All the four artists gave white porcelain a model style, each in their own way. And this is what the exhibition’s theme comes from. It’s a dialogue between the past     10     the present.