1 . Deserts could be the best places on Earth for harvesting solar power. They are spacious, relatively flat, and never short of sunlight. So researchers imagine it might be possible to transform the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, into a large solar farm, capable of meeting four times the world’s current energy demand.
While the black surfaces of solar panels absorb most of the sunlight that reaches them, only around 15% of that incoming energy gets turned into electricity. The rest is returned to the environment as heat, affecting the climate. If these effects were only local, they might not matter in a thinly populated desert. But the area of the installations in the Sahara would be vast, covering thousands of square miles. Heat released from an area this size will be redistributed by the flow of air in the atmosphere, having regional and even global effects on the climate.
A 2018 study used a climate model to assess the effects of building massive solar farms in the Sahara. The model revealed that when the size of the solar farm reaches 20% of the total area of the Sahara, the heat released by the darker solar panels creates a big temperature difference between the land and the surrounding oceans that ultimately lowers surface air pressure and causes wet air to rise and condense (凝结) into raindrops. With more rainfall, plants grow and the desert reflects less of the sun’s energy since vegetation absorbs light better than sand and soil. With more plants present, more water is evaporated (蒸发), creating a better environment that causes vegetation to spread.
So, a large solar farm could generate enough energy and at the same time turn one of the most abominable environments on Earth into a habitable place. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. In a recent study, we used an advanced Earth system model to closely examine how Saharan solar farms interact with the climate. It showed there could be unintended effects in remote parts of the land and ocean.
We are only beginning to understand the potential consequences of establishing massive solar farms in deserts. Solutions like this may help society reduce the use of fossil energy, but Earth system studies like ours underscore the importance of considering the numerous coupled responses of the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface when examining their benefits and risks.
1. What can be learned about solar farms?| A．They are mainly located in deserts. |
| B．They can affect the local and even global climate. |
| C．They can make the best use of incoming energy. |
| D．They satisfy the world’s current energy demand. |
| A．It might become greener. |
| B．It might reflect more sunlight. |
| C．Its surface air pressure will increase. |
| D．Its temperature difference between day and night will decrease. |
| A．Addictive. | B．Dynamic. | C．Sensitive. | D．Unpleasant. |
| A．It is an impossible task. |
| B．It will do more good than harm. |
| C．It calls for more consideration. |
| D．It might be the solution to fossil fuel pollution. |
1. 介绍活动；
2. 不同观点；
3. 发出呼吁。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 题目已为你写好。
An Interview about Plastic Pollution
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it? And if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline researched this question in a feature article for Elle, and she concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.
Take shipping for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.
Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most renting services, this usually means dry-cleaning, which is a polluting process. All the renting services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene,a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutants that's still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with hydrocarbon (碳氢化合物) alternatives, although these aren't great either. They can produce harmful waste and air pollution if not handled correctly.
Lastly, Cline fears that renting services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called "share-washing" that makes people have more wasteful behaviors because a product or service is shared and thus is considered more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this: advertised as a way to share rides and reduce car ownership, and yet it has been proven to discourage walking, bicycling and public transportation use.
Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them into the bin after wearing them a few times, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us self-satisfied. There's an even better step — and that's wearing what we already have.
1. The underline word in Paragraph 3 most probably means______.| A．traveling by ship | B．selling or renting a ship |
| C．delivering or mailing | D．the cost of sending |
| A．Clothing renting became popular ten years ago. |
| B．Consumer transportation has the largest carbon footprint. |
| C．Renting clothes deserves further consideration. |
| D．Uber is a good example of sharing rides. |
①Renting used clothes ②Buying cheap new clothes and dumping them soon
③Wearing the clothes we have instead of getting more to wear
| A．①>②>③ | B．②>③>① |
| C．③>②>① | D．③>①>② |
| A．Renting fashion-a sustainable choice! | B．Clothes renting or clothes buying? |
| C．Renting services are catching on | D．Clothes renting-truly greener? |
4 . One of the biggest topics of the last decade, sustainability has become the beacon (灯塔) of hope to protect the planet. From supermarkets taking action on plastic packaging to the zero waste movement that can be practised from your kitchen, changes made by individuals and organizations across the globe has had an impact on the way we think, shop and live.
So what does that mean for the world of technology? You’d be forgiven for thinking that the words “sustainable” and “tech” don’t usually go hand in hand.E-waste is, after all, one of the planet’s biggest contributing waste streams. Not only that, but the materials that go into tech products are also part of the problem.
But with a challenge comes an opportunity, and there’s already some brilliant progress happening — great news for those of us wanting to be more sustainable with our tech. Firstly, renewed is having its moment. While consumers would previously turn their noses up at the idea of a second-hand device, there’s been a huge surge in demand for renewed tech. The second major step in tackling the problem of e-waste is a change in attitudes from owning a product to subscribing for one. A subscription for a smartphone might sound like a foreign concept, but it’s already gaining momentum. At the forefront of this movement is London-based tech startup Raylo, a pending B Corp which offers a subscription service for the latest iPhone. As customers aren’t paying to own the phone at the end of their contract, the monthly price is significantly lower than average.
Studies show that extending a phone’s lifespan from one to four years can decrease its environmental impact by about 40%.So the next time it comes to refreshing your device — whether a smartphone, laptop, tablet or something else-consider the more environmentally-friendly options that are at your fingertips.
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To change the way we think, shop, and live. |
| B．To introduce the topic of sustainability in tech. |
| C．To tell us what people have done to protect the planet. |
| D．To call on people to do something for the environment. |
| A．High-tech products are in short supply. |
| B．E-waste contributes to the biggest waste streams. |
| C．The two sustainability problems in technology. |
| D．Ignoring sustainable technology is unforgivable. |
| A．Oppose. | B．Present. | C．Explain. | D．Accept. |
| A．By upgrading the old one. |
| B．By paying monthly for a smartphone. |
| C．By spending less money on a smartphone. |
| D．By replacing the old one with the latest one. |
5 . Imagine a world without insects. It might sound good at first without creepy-crawly bugs and annoying flies in your apartment. However, the consequences would be disastrous.
The number of insects has dropped by more than half in the past decades, according to British biologist Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse. As insects make up most of the known species on this planet, this data is not good news, The Guardian reported on July 25.
Insects are indeed on the path to extinction, according to the first global scientific review of insect population decline, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation in January 2019. The researchers say intensive agriculture has been the main cause of the decline. Pesticides, in particular, destroy insect habitats. Urbanization and climate change are also significant factors.
“Unless we change our ways of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades,” the researchers wrote in the review. “The repercussions (影响) this will have for the planet’s ecosystems are catastrophic to say the least.”
What would happen to Earth without insects? It’s almost impossible to predict, but the consequences would be far-reaching. We need insects to pollinate (授粉) crops, recycle plant and animal material, keep the soil healthy and much more. Without insects, many animals would have nothing to eat, and the predators of those animals would go hungry as well. The ecosystem would be thrown off balance.
“If insect species losses cannot be halted, this will have catastrophic consequences for both the planet’s ecosystems and for the survival of mankind,” said Francisco Sanchez-Bayo at the University of Sydney, Australia, one of the authors of the review.
The first step to halting this process is “to engender a society that values the natural world, both for what it does for us and for its own sake”, Goulson suggests. “The obvious place to start is with our children, encouraging environmental awareness from an early age.”
1. What does the underlined word “disastrous” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Highly helpful. | B．Very interesting. |
| C．Extremely terrible. | D．Impossible to predict. |
| A．Problems with intensive agriculture. |
| B．Causes of the decline in the insect population. |
| C．Factors causing insect habitat loss. |
| D．Influence of urbanization on insects. |
| A．They help slow down climate change. |
| B．They reduce the number of predators. |
| C．They have a great impact on the ecosystem. |
| D．They keep the soil dry and healthy. |
| A．Exploring the natural world often. |
| B．Providing insects with enough food. |
| C．Taking children to watch insects closely. |
| D．Raising public awareness of natural protection. |
6 . New Lives for Old Phones
When a new mobile phone starts to be sold in stores, many people rush out to buy one. We all want the newest, latest thing.
Mike Townsend works at Total Recall, a mobile phone recycling company. “Don’t throw your old phone away.
Mobile phones contain some poisonous materials. If your phone goes to a landfill, these poisonous materials can get out and get into the water under the ground. That’s the water we need to drink or water goes into rivers or the ocean.
“At Total Recall, we separate the old phones into pieces. Most of the materials in the mobile phones can be recycled and used again.
“
So before you throw that old mobile phone away, use it the last time: search for a recycler near you and give them a call.
| A．Recycling your old phone is easy. |
| B．Send it to us and we’ll recycle it. |
| C．How much is your old mobile phone worth? |
| D．But what should we do with our old mobile phones? |
| E．Millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year. |
| F．Recycling materials helps keep the environment greener and cleaner. |
| G．We take apart the old phones and they are used to make new products. |
7 . I fell in love with Yosemite National Park the first time I saw it, when I was 13. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to E1 Capitan,a
About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of
I tried
As a rock-climbing guide, I knew
Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash and
I often hear people
| A．distant | B．huge | C．narrow | D．loose |
| A．recently | B．finally | C．gradually | D．immediately |
| A．climbing | B．painting | C．describing | D．imagining |
| A．garden | B．lab | C．home | D．palace |
| A．material | B．waste | C．resources | D．goods |
| A．over. | B．against | C．beyond | D．within |
| A．less | B．most | C．more | D．least |
| A．throwing away | B．picking up | C．breaking down | D．digging out |
| A．kill | B．save | C．spend | D．wait |
| A．satisfied with | B．delighted in | C．used to | D．tired of |
| A．something | B．anything | C．everything | D．nothing |
| A．cleanup | B．party | C．picnic | D．concert |
| A．dropped out | B．looked around | C．showed up | D．called back |
| A．demand | B．accomplish | C．receive | D．overcome |
| A．plan | B．visit | C．contact | D．difference |
| A．crossed | B．covered | C．measured | D．designed |
| A．talk | B．argue | C．complain | D．quarrel |
| A．watching | B．thinking | C．questioning | D．doing |
| A．example | B．explanation | C．method | D．research |
| A．unless | B．if | C．although | D．when |
8 . Will you stop using plastic?
If you take a look around your kitchen or office right now, chances are that you’ll notice you’re surrounded by plastic—water bottles, to-go coffee cups, straws (吸管), plastic grocery bags, food wrappers, take-out containers, single-serve coffee pods and produce bags.
It’s certainly not realistic to remove all plastic from your life, but let’s examine some statistics that may encourage you to reduce your single-use plastic footprint by throwing away straws, switching to reusable water bottles, bringing cloth bags to the grocery store and more.
According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, the popularity of plastic, which began rising in the 1950s, is growing out of control.
“Every piece of plastic that has ever been created will remain in the environment in some form, but once we conveniently throw out our rubbish at home, wind and runoff carry our waste from landfills and streets to the ocean,” says Mystic Aquarium’s chief clinical veterinarian Jennifer Flower, DVM, MS. “Given that we are globally producing over 320 million tons of plastic annually, the marine environment is taking a big hit from our daily disposal of plastic.
| A．Our plastic consumption is directly affecting the life in the ocean. |
| B．People are concerned about the results of overusing plastic containers. |
| C．8.2 trillion kilograms of plastic have been produced around the world. |
| D．Using plastic containers in microwaves is also harmful to children’s health. |
| E．Let’s stop using plastic for the benefit of the environment and human beings. |
| F．These are all examples of single-use plastic products, which is a hot topic nowadays. |
| G．The most concerning artificial additive BPA is a chemical used in the production of plastics. |
9 . Why Is Sorting Important When Recycling?
We all agree that we should recycle more at home, in the office or when out and about.
Once recyclable materials are collected from your home, they are further sorted in specialized facilities which ensure the quality of the recycling process.
| A．For effective recycling we need effective sorting. |
| B．Packaging at work is the first step towards recycling. |
| C．This is where different sorting techniques come into play. |
| D．So citizens need to be aware of their local collection system. |
| E．Collection systems can be very different from country to country. |
| F．The rest was landfilled or burned even though they could have been recycled or reused. |
| G．But for materials to be recycled, they first need to find their way to the right waste stream. |
10 . For 21-year-old Malhar Kalambe, weekends are not about hanging out with friends. Instead, they have a different mission — cleaning the Datar Beach. Collectively， they have made such a huge difference to the beach that the United Nations has recognized their contributions.
“Actually the idea stemmed from my vacation to Bali, the clean beach leaving a great impression on me. After returning, I found our beaches in shambles. During a conversation with my mother, I was complaining about how bad our beaches are compared to beaches in Bali, and my mother just said, 'Don't complain, if you care, just go and clean. ? and thus 'Beach Please'," Malhar said. “It began on September 10, 2017 and since then cleaning the garbage on the beach has become a weekend routine. Currently, there are 25 odd volunteers spending our weekends cleaning the beach.”
After cleaning the beach for months, Malhar and his friends realized that it was of a little help and there is no end to this. They needed to contain the source which dumps garbage in the ocean. They found that the Mithi River is being used to dump the industrial waste, construction waste and even domestic waste into the ocean and they decided to also clean the river. Now on Saturday, they clean the Mithi River and on Sunday, they focus on the Datar Beach. In order to make a sustainable （可持续的）difference, they must make people understand that they have to stop dumping garbage into any source. “Awareness, recycling and cleaning up are three steps which can bring a change. I hope people realize it's their duty to keep their surroundings as well as the ocean clean,“ Malhar added.
1. What does the underlined phrase “in shambles” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Damp. | B．Messy. | C．Crowded. | D．Abandoned. |
| A．He likes hanging out with his friends. | B．He encourages his mother to join him. |
| C．He volunteers to clean the Datar Beach. | D．He complains his vacation to Bali to his friends. |
| A．Recycling most of domestic waste. |
| B．Calling for people to make a green trip. |
| C．Raising people's awareness of protecting the ocean. |
| D．Seeking for the source of the ocean pollution. |
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Considerate. | C．Outgoing. | D．Responsible. |
