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 . It’s been more than 60 years since Jane Goodall started her pioneering work. In 1960, she was chosen to go to what is now Tanzania and study the little-known world of chimpanzees. Since then, Goodall has received many awards and honorary degrees as a world-famous conservationist (自然环境保护主义者). Now, Goodall has received an unusual honor. She is becoming a toy — a Barbie doll.

Goodall may not have expected to become a Barbie at 88 years old — but it’s not just any doll, it’s made out of recycled plastic. And Barbie is partnering with the Jane Goodall Foundation and its Roots & Shoots program which inspires young people to protect animals and the environment.

“You know, the main message is that every day you live, you make an influence on the planet and you get to choose what sort of influence you make,” Goodall said.

“There was a little boy of 7 in Burundi, and I had given a talk to the school and he came up to me and said, ‘If I pick out a piece of trash every day, it will make a difference, won’t it?’ And I said, ‘Yes it will. And suppose you persuade (劝说) 10 of your friends to pick up a piece of rubbish every day.’ He said, ‘Oh, that would really make a difference and then they could all get 10 of their friends, couldn’t they?’ Goodall said, “So, that’s it. The cumulative (积累的) effect of small actions can lead to big change.”

She’s been inspiring young people for decades, but now, newer generations will get to know Jane Goodall. “I sincerely hope that it will help to create more interest in the natural world,” she said about the Barbie. “Because hopefully, you know, they’ll learn more about me through the doll. And that will get them interested. It doesn’t really matter if they have a career in conservation, as long as they pay attention to conservation in their daily lives.”

1. What is the intention of Barbie’s making a doll of Jane Goodall?

A．To give Jane Goodall a surprise.

B．To test the quality of recycled plastic.

C．To encourage environmental protection.

D．To start a cooperative research program.

2. What idea does Goodall’s conversation with the little boy mainly convey?

A．Everyone can make an impact on the planet.

B．Children will make the future world a better place.

C．Every child should pick up a piece of rubbish every day.

D．The accumulation of tiny actions makes a great difference.

3. What is Goodall’s attitude towards the Barbie doll?

A．Critical.	B．Supportive.
C．Disapproving.	D．Doubtful.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Jane Goodall’s Good Expectation of Nature Conservation

B．Young People’s Strong Interest in Nature Conservation

C．Great Popularity of a New Barbie Doll of Jane Goodall

D．Inspire Newer Generations to Care About Conservation Through a Doll

4 . They say once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget. Most of us learned to ride when we were kids, and many still wear our helmets, put our feet on the pedals, and shoot off for a ride on the streets. In recent times, cycling has seen an increase in popularity, so many people raise a question:     1    

First, let’s look at the health benefits. Cycling can improve your cardiovascular (心血管的) health and burn extra body fat. Strengthening your muscles in your legs helps increase your potential torque (扭矩) and cadence (节奏).     2     A long ride in the countryside could help you clear your mind, or de-stress. But it’s not only about your body and mind there are also some plus sides for your wallet’s health.

Cycling can be a great way to go to work or get about town.     3     If you drive to work, sometimes finding somewhere to park can be a nightmare, whereas finding somewhere to chain your bike up can be much simpler. Then, on the subway, there are changes at stations and other people who go to work speaking loudly on their phones to deal with.     4     And if you’re worried about safety, there are designated cycle lanes in many major cities. In addition, wearing high-visibility clothing is another way to improve your safety when cycling on the roads.

    5     It can help you reduce your carbon footprints. Not giving off greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is better for the planet and your own environment.

So, whether people want to cycle for their health, their wallet, the environment, or a combination of all of them —the popularity of cycling is on the rise.

A．What makes cycling so convenient?

B．But cyclists face neither of these issues.

C．And people will choose to go to work by cycling.

D．This can save you a lot of money on fuel or public transportation.

E．Finally, cycling can also be good for the environment.

F．And the benefits from cycling aren’t just physical, but mental as well.

G．What makes it so attractive for people to take their bikes once again?

6 . 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。

Dongying city in China’s Shandong Province has witnessed ecological improvements in the Yellow River Delta, thanks to various     1    (effect) measures to improve wetland restoration and protection.

Years ago, the wetlands there     2    (threaten) due to less water from the river and other factors.     3    (protect) the wetlands ecosystem, the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve was established in 1992. Since then, the city     4    (carry) out several management projects and restored the biotic (生物) population in the zone.

Dongying has been adopting a comprehensive wetlands restoration model by giving high priority to protecting the nature reserve and letting nature restore     5    (it) . Over the past three years, it’s transferred 469 million cubic meters of water to the nature reserve, which has recovered the ecological functions of the wetlands there.

Last year, Dongying built a real-time monitoring network for bird species at the nature reserve, which ensures that birds are free from disturbance of human activity and     6    (put) the habitats of cranes and other species under key protection. As     7    result, the nature reserve has seen an obvious increase in the variety and number     8    bird species. Home to 371 bird species, it’s become an important stop, wintering ground and breeding place for migratory     9    (bird). Dongying is currently working to build the Yellow River Estuary National Park,     10    will cover 3, 523 square kilometers, including land area and sea area, to explore pathways for the protection of Delta ecology.

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 . Despite the bad reputation of sharks, they are crucial to the health of the marine ecosystem and can even help fight climate change.

In the shallows of Shaik Bay, Western Australia, seagrass is food for the sea cows, which can weigh as much as 500 kg and eat roughly 40 kg of seagrass a day. Sea cows are a rich source of food for tiger sharks. By keeping the sea cow population controlled, tiger sharks here help the seagrass grow sustainably. A booming seagrass meadow stores twice as much CO₂ per square mile as forests typically do on land.

But tiger shark numbers are declining. Off Australia’s northeast coast of Queensland, tiger sharks are estimated to have fallen by at least 71 percent, largely due to overfishing. A reduction in tiger sharks means more seagrass consumed by herbivores (食草动物) and less carbon stored in sea vegetation. This raised the question: What if they were absent from the Shark Bay — would the seagrass-dominated ecosystem survive?

To find out, researcher led by Rob Nowicki of Florida International University, spent time in Eastern Australia, where shark numbers were lower and sea cows ate seagrass largely undisturbed. “When uncontrolled, sea cows can rapidly destroy wide areas of seagrass.” said Nowicki.

Those findings emphasized that tiger sharks were playing an important role in preventing the reduction of seagrass in Shark Bay. If their populations continue to decline, the resilience of carbon-rich ocean ecosystems will likely decrease.

          When it comes to stimulating shark numbers, there have been movements toward more sustainable fishing, but a large percentage of the industry have not changed their methods, which is a reason why the population of many marine top predators (捕食者) continues to decline.

Aside from supporting sustainable fishing, Nowicki said the only way to truly protect marine life is to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions. “Ultimately, if we are going to protect our ecosystems in the centuries to come, we are going to need to solve climate change while undertaking species protection at the same time.”

1. Why are tiger sharks vital to the marine ecosystem?

A．They feed on various sea animals.	B．They can store large amounts of CO₂.
C．They can prevent the loss of seagrass.	D．They influence marine species’ health

2. What does the underlined word “resilience” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Remark.

B．Recovery.

C．Bother.

D．Accident.

3. What is the main cause of the population reduction of many top predators?

A．Unsustainable fishing.	B．Lack of protection.
C．Climate change.	D．Loss of seagrass.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To tell the number of tiger sharks is decreasing.

B．To show climate change causes the loss of seagrass.

C．To tell environmental protection is at the top of the agenda.

D．To show tiger sharks are vital to the health of the marine ecosystem.

9 . Ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn’t important, imagine Earth without it. Fifty years ago, when I began exploring the ocean, no one realized that we human being could do anything to harm the ocean.

For me, as a woman scientist, it all began in 1953 when I first tried diving. In 1979, by using a submersible, I had a chance to reach the ocean floor which was six miles offshore and 1,250 feet down. Since then, I’ve used about 30 kinds of submarines. We need new deep-diving submersible. We need to see the undersea mountains and understand life in the deep sea. Exploring and protecting the wild ocean is my big wish.

What’s worrying us is that an ice free Arctic Ocean may happen in this century. That’s bad news for the polar bears. Additional CO₂ is not only driving global warming, but also changing ocean chemistry, making the sea more acidic. That’s bad news for coral reefs and oxygen-producing plankton(浮游生物). Actually, nearly half of the coral reefs have disappeared. We’re putting hundreds of millions of tons of plastic and other rubbish into the sea. We’re blocking the ocean, poisoning the planet’s circulatory system. Most of the turtles, sharks, tunas and whales are way down in numbers. All of these are part of our life support system.

Health to the ocean means health for us. I wish we would use all means—films, explorations, the web, new submarines—and campaign to stimulate public support for ocean protected areas. My wish is a big wish, but if we can make it happen, it can truly save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet. For the children of today, for tomorrow’s children: as never again, now is the time.

1. Why does the writer say “No blue, no green.” in the first paragraph?

A．To tell us the colors of the earth.	B．To refer to the ocean and the land.
C．To show the importance of ocean.	D．To encourage us to explore the ocean.

2. What should we do to protect the ocean according to the text?

A．Make joint efforts.	B．Save life support system.
C．Encourage children to take action.	D．Explore the ocean by new technology.

3. What’s the writer’s attitude towards the current situation of the ocean?

A．Negative.

B．Concerned.

C．Uncertain.

D．Indifferent.

10 . 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 ______ at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags in order to prevent plastic in the

______ and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we ______ all our shopping in our arms and left.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more ______ about my impact and pushed me to adopt different habits to live and ______ more sustainably.

Our trip to Borneo was another life-changing ______ that has strengthened my resolution to a zero-waste lifestyle. While traveling in some Asian countries, we came to know that ______ drinkable water was always a challenge. So we had to travel with our water bottle, and we ______ to avoid using plastic during our trip.

Besides, we were also ______ impressed by our stay on Libaran Island. A sustainable turtle conservation ______ and the community had made big efforts to ______ the beaches and creatively re-use plastic for ten years. Despite that, the shore is ______ daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides.

Facing this global issue ______, raised in me a feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into ______: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Small changes can ______ a difference!

1.

A．stayed

B．visited

C．worked

D．stopped

2.

A．land

B．ocean

C．district

D．supermarket

3.

A．threw

B．picked

C．dropped

D．carried

4.

A．sure

B．proud

C．conscious

D．comfortable

5.

A．travel

B．deliver

C．remove

D．play

6.

A．story

B．growth

C．experience

D．suffering

7.

A．free

B．cheap

C．valuable

D．safe

8.

A．failed

B．managed

C．hesitated

D．happened

9.

A．firmly

B．violently

C．deeply

D．dramatically

10.

A．action

B．project

C．schedule

D．protection

11.

A．dry up

B．tie up

C．clean up

D．take up

12.

A．washed

B．proved

C．rushed

D．injured

13.

A．on purpose

B．for sure

C．to an extent

D．in person

14.

A．confusion

B．determination

C．frustration

D．satisfaction

15.

A．make

B．do

C．achieve

D．find