内容包括： 1.现状描述；2.倡议举措；
参考词汇：低碳生活a low-carbon life
注意：1.词数100左右；2.题目已为你写好。
Small acts make a big difference
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The earth’s plants
Wild animals live in the forests
I suggest that measures should be taken
3 . Carbon dioxide emissions from transportation are now thought as the top source of green-house gases. One of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to reconsider how much, and how often, you travel.
Going car free for a year could save about 2. 6 tons of carbon dioxide, according to a study from the University of British Columbia. How can you stop using a car? Try taking a train, bus or better yet, riding a bike.
But let’s be realistic. You will likely need to use a car this year. So, when you do, here are some tips to make your trip more climate-friendly. Driving efficiently can help to reduce emissions. Go easy on the gas and brakes and drive like you have an egg under your foot. Regularly service your car to keep it more efficient. Keeping your tires pumped correctly can re-duce emissions. Low tire pressure will hurt your fuel economy. Air conditioning and frequent city driving can make emissions go up. So cut down on these as often as possible. Use cruise control (定速巡航) on long drives-in most cases, this can help to save gas. Don’t weigh your car down with extra things that you don’t need on your trip.
Fly often? Taking one fewer long round-trip flight could reduce your personal carbon footprint significantly. If you use public transportation often and fly less, your carbon foot-print might still be relatively sustainable, but if you drive and fly a lot, your emissions will be sigher. If you can’t avoid flying, you can offset them by donating money to sustainable proacts, such as supplying efficient stoves to rural homes, or projects which help farmers deal with crop waste environmentally.
1. What does the author think of going car free?| A．Efficient. | B．Costly. | C．Impractical. | D．Reliable. |
| A．Maintaining your car properly. | B．Using cruise control in the city. |
| C．Stepping hard on the gas and brakes. | D．Geiting rid of all the necessary loads. |
| A．Make up for. | B．Team up with. | C．Set foot in. | D．Put up with. |
| A．How to save fuel when driving cars | B．How to reduce your carbon footprint |
| C．Reduce carbon footprint by all means | D．Lower carbon footprint in transportation |
4 . Fashion designers are always looking for new materials to work with. Lately, it’s all about environment-friendly materials -- recycled tires, mushrooms, even pineapple fibers! What if you want such a pair of shoes? Thaely is here to help.
This sneaker brand out of Dubai wants to fight the growing problem of plastic pollution. Led by 23-year-old Indian businessman Ashay Bhave, they may have found a winning approach: making shoes out of plastic grocery bags. “Thaely” means “plastic bag” in the Hindi language.
“I was looking to create footwear that is cost-effective and safe for the environment,” Bhave said in an interview with a newspaper. “I needed to come up with something that uses recycled plastic without creating any more plastic waste. ”Plastic bags were the perfect solution. He said five trillion plastic bags are used around the world each year. “I was motivated to find a solution to this problem,” Bhave said.
That solution was the fiber called ThaelyTex. Made entirely from plastic bags, the material looks and feels like leather. That sounds promising. Better yet, the production process requires no additional chemicals and produces no poisonous by-products. The result is a smart-looking pair of white low-top sneakers.
Bhave wouldn’t expose the full process for making ThaelyTex, but he said that each pair of shoes was made from up to 15 plastic bags and 22 plastic bottles. Where do they get the materials? Bhave told Elle that was the hardest part. “The biggest challenge we faced was right at the first step of acquiring the plastic bags. ”
Finally, they got help from TrioTap Technologies, a waste management plant. Bhave said they offered to collect the bags and also process them into ThaelyTex.
So far, it seems like things are falling into place. There are already hundreds of pre-orders in place. It sounds like they have some plans for the future. “We have a few more colors coming up,” said Bhave. They also plan to put out a high-top model and bring in a line of clothing. Let’s hope their growth is also friendly to the environment.
1. Why did Bhave choose to make shoes out of plastic bags?| A．To set a new footwear trend. |
| B．To test new materials for footwear. |
| C．To reduce the use of plastic bags in his home country. |
| D．To use recycled plastic in an environment-friendly way. |
| A．Having a few more colors for Thaely. | B．Processing plastic bags into ThaelyTex. |
| C．Collecting enough production materials | D．Dealing with many poisonous by-products |
| A．produce | B．conserve |
| C．provide | D．broadcast |
| A．Bhave: a promising young man |
| B．Thaely: killer of waste plastic bags |
| C．ThaelyTex: material out of plastic bags |
| D．TrioTap Technologies: a waste management plant |
5 . After weeks of hard work, a cafe built by a group of young people from recycled solid waste has opened recently. The group recycled about 270 tons of solid waste, including wooden poles, boxes, refrigerators and washing machines. Located on the Gaza City beach, it’s the first of such shops in Gaza.
Gaza is suffering from severe garbage pollution. According to a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the average amount of household waste in the Gaza Strip stands at 716 tonnes. About 80 percent of the garbage there is organic waste, while 20 percent of it is solid waste.
Called “The Sea Is Ours”, the project falls under the responsibility of the Abdul Muhsin al-Qattan Foundation and the Gaza Municipality. The organizers say the cafe is not intended to earn money. It’s a way to tell the masses about the environment. “Some people go to the sea to relax and leave plastic waste on the beach, damaging the area. Our initiative (新方案) encourages people to keep our environment clean and healthy,” said Hanaa al-Ghoul, one initiative organizer.
To fire people with enthusiasm for it, organizers decided to run workshops to teach people how they can benefit from their own waste. Furthermore, they arranged theatrical performances that spread the message of environmental conservation. Many Gazan families praised the initiative as they took their waste to the cafe and learned how to recycle it into useful things.
Mariam Ibrahim, who had spent a whole day with her family there, said her children succeeded in producing flower vases from plastic waste, as well as bags from old clothes. “The green methods can be used not only on the beach but at home,” the 35-year-old mother said. She expressed her hope that others will follow this example. “Gaza is the most beautiful area, but it needs more people who take care of it.”
1. What does paragraph 2 serve as?| A．A summary. | B．An explanation. |
| C．An example. | D．A background. |
| A．To recycle wasted objects. |
| B．To better serve visitors in Gaza. |
| C．To raise people’s environmental awareness. |
| D．To introduce eco-friendly products. |
| A．By spreading the useful message. |
| B．By holding some activities. |
| C．By using special building materials. |
| D．By cooperating with other organizations. |
| A．More initiatives like the cafe are needed. |
| B．Gaza’s environment is getting better. |
| C．She wants to spend more time in the cafe. |
| D．The cafe is popular with both adults and kids. |
6 . Clothes were once used until they fell apart. Not today. In high-income countries in particular, clothing and footwear are increasingly frequently bought, thrown away and replaced with new fashions, which are themselves soon thrown away and replaced.
The so-called ‘Fast fashion’ is having a surprising environmental impact. The first one is water. The fashion industry consumes anywhere from 20 trillion (万亿) to 200 trillion litres every year. Then there are micro-plastics. Plastic fibres are released when we wash polyester (聚酯纤维) textiles, which make up between20% and 35% of the micro-plastics choking the oceans. Added to this are specific chemicals, such as those used to make fabrics stain resistant and the pesticides required to protect crops such as cotton.
Change is badly needed, but will require the fashion industry to work harder to embrace more of what is known as the circular economy. That will involve at least two things: refocusing on making things that last, and so encouraging reuse; and more rapidly expanding the technologies for sustainable manufacturing processes, especially recycling. There’s a big role for research-both academic and industrial-in achieving these and other ambitions.
Researchers could begin by helping to provide more accurate estimates of water use. There is also work to be done on improving and expanding textiles recycling. Undoubtedly, used textiles go to landfill in part because there are relatively few systems that collect, recycle and reuse materials. Such recycling requires the manual separation of fibres, as well as buttons and zips. Different fibres are not easy to identify by eye, and overall such manual processes are time-consuming. Machinery that can help is being developed. Technologies also exist to recycle used fibres chemically and to create high-quality fibres that can be reused in clothing. But these are nowhere near the scale needed.
Another challenge for researchers is to workout how to get consumers and manufacturers to change their behaviour. Other research questions include finding ways to encourage people to purchase long lasting goods; exploring how to satisfy desires for something new while reducing environmental impact; and understanding why certain measures can be successfully scaled up whereas others fail.
1. Why does the author mention “water”, “micro-plastics” and “chemicals” in Paragraph 2?| A．To provide an idea. | B．To prove a point. |
| C．To give a definition. | D．To present new concepts. |
| A．Efforts are made to lengthen the lifespan of textiles. |
| B．Worn-out clothes are used as dishcloths and oil rags. |
| C．High-quality fibres are created to be reused in clothing. |
| D．Fashion industry is encouraged to release new lines more often. |
| A．To make sure that all of the used textiles go to landfill. |
| B．To separate fibres, as well as buttons and zips manually. |
| C．To improve and expand textile recycling to a larger extent. |
| D．To encourage consumers to satisfy their desires for fashion. |
| A．Say Yes to the So-called Fast Fashion |
| B．Cut Fast Fashion’s Environmental Impact |
| C．Address the Academic Challenges for Researchers |
| D．Improve the Efficiency of the Separation of Fibres |
7 . The monarch butterfly migration(迁徙)is at risk because of climate change and other envuronmental factors.
Do you know that monarch butterflies can travel up to 50- 100 miles a day? If you know they need travel about two months, you’ll have an idea of the distance monarchs travel to get to Mexico.
Monarch butterflies are the only hind of butterflies to make a two-way migration. They travel to Mexico to escape the winter season in the northern climates. Cold, wet weather is considered deadly for monarchs, while hotter, diner summer change their homes in the north.
2020, however, saw a 26% drop from the year earlier in migration patterns reported in a report from the World Wildlife Fund and the Mexican government. With this drop, the butterflies’ population covered only 2.1 hectares in 2020, compared to 2.8 hectares a year earlier. And the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacan. Mexico, lost trees at a higher rate than it did in 2019.
With climate change as the monarch butterflies’ biggest challenge, they are faced with many dangers, such as drought, deforestation(滥伐森林)and struggle to breed. These dangers affect the whole migration and hold back population growth. Female monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed flowers, which have been heavily affected by the wild weather from spring and summer of last year. Because of this, the development of butterfly eggs was also affected.
Since 2013, Mexico has seen a rapid drop in the number of migrants arriving to the area. The effects of climate change and deforestation have become an important sign that action needs to be taken to make sure of a healthy migration for monarchs going forward. If not, it’s their possible dying, out that wall fall unto our hands.
1. Haw far do monarch butterflies fly to escape the cold?| A．50-100 miles. | B．100-200 miles. |
| C．1,500 – 3,000 miles. | D．3,000 -6,000 miles. |
| A．It is becoming cold and wet. | B．It is dangerous for monarchs |
| C．Its environment is being destroyed. | D．Its area is growing smaller. |
| A．The damage to forests. | B．The dangers monarchs face. |
| C．The growth process of monarchs. | D．The development of butterfly eggs |
| A．Point out the signs of climate change. | B．Explain the cause of the monarch migration. |
| C．Call for measures to stop monarchs dying out. | D．Express regret at the monarchs’ disappearance. |
8 . Urban gardens are valuable assets (资产) to communities. They provide green spaces to grow sustainable food, build community cohesion (凝聚力), make new friends, connect with the earth, and much more. So, let’s check out our list of 4 inspiring urban gardens in the US.
Gotham Greens
Where: New York & Chicago
What: Gotham Greens first started in Brooklyn and now has four locations in New York City and Chicago. Their flagship farm in Brooklyn produces over 100,000 pounds of greens per year. But it doesn’t just produce healthy local vegetables. It is using high-tech greenhouses with solar panels to make sure the food grown is healthy and sustainable.
Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students
Where: Baltimore, Maryland
What: The Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) program encourages students to get their hands dirty and plant vegetables through their after-school and summer programs. Many of these kids don’t have access to green spaces and have never had the opportunity to grow food.
Revision Urban Farm
Where: Boston, Massachusetts
What: Revision Urban Farm in Boston works in partnership with the Revision Family Home-a shelter for 22 homeless parents and their kids. The farm provides these families within formation on healthy eating, and access to the farm’s fresh vegetables. The organization also provides job training to help families escape the cycle of poverty.
Swale
Where: New York
What: Swale, a floating food forest located on a large boat, is an innovative project meant to inspire citizens to rethink the relationship between our cities and our food. This urban garden serves as both a living art exhibit and an educational farm Food forests are sustainable gardens that include vegetables, fruit, nut trees, bushes, herbs, and vines — each one complementing the other in a symbiotic (共生的) relationship.
1. What is special about Gotham Greens?| A．It offers homeless families information on healthy eating. |
| B．It creates a sustainable garden on a large boat. |
| C．It provides job training for students. |
| D．It uses high-tech greenhouses to grow healthy food. |
| A．Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students. | B．Swale. |
| C．Revision Urban Farm. | D．Gotham Greens. |
| A．They create job opportunities for farmers. |
| B．They are inspirational projects in New York. |
| C．They are beneficial to communities. |
| D．They have educational and entertaining purposes. |
1. 你推荐的活动；
2. 你的理由。
注意：
1. 词数：100词左右；
2. 短文的题目和首句已为你写好。
World Environment Day Activities
World Environment Day is just around the corner.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . The Canadian government announced a plan to ban single-use plastics as early as 2022. As someone who performs research on plastic pollution, I see this as a positive step forward. However, I wonder whether it will go far enough.
Some people may feel that this announcement is simply a “feel-good measure” and a distraction from bigger problems such as the climate disaster. The truth of the matter is that plastic pollution and the climate disaster are signs of the same disease. As much as 8% of global oil goes directly to plastic production—a figure that doesn’t include the transportation of single-use plastics to global markets, the energy used to transport plastics to landfills and the energy used to sort or recycle things.
In the past years, some bans have actually resulted in an increase in other forms of waste. For example, paper bags may be seen as a sustainable (可持续的) choice since, unlike plastics, paper breaks down in the environment. However, a paper bag has a carbon footprint three times that of a plastic bag and is still “single-use” just as much as a plastic bag is.
Adopting (采用) a science-based method, which the government has promised, will ensure the ways of using single-use plastics are more sustainable. I’m, however, concerned about the announcement because “as early as 2022” is very different from “by 2022”, which has a strict timeline. If we’re truly going to carry out an effective ban on single-use plastics, our government will need to spend a large amount of money on innovation (改革) and research into sustainable materials and our waste treatment system to prevent plastics from going into our oceans or landfills.
So the question remains: is this announcement simply smoke and mirrors, to hide a lack of determined action on both plastic waste and the climate disaster, or is this a real effort that will be carried out to stop the production of single-use plastics? We will have to wait and see.
1. How does the author feel about Canada’s new plan?| A．She is more excited than worried. | B．She never believes in Canada. |
| C．She considers it a great success. | D．She has mixed feelings about it. |
| A．stress paper bags are sustainable materials |
| B．explain paper bags are greener than plastics |
| C．prove some measures are unsatisfactory |
| D．show paper bags are no different from plastics |
| A．Its coming a little too late. | B．Its lacking scientific support. |
| C．Its having no strict timeline. | D．Its appearing far from practical. |
| A．Canada’s efforts to reduce the use of plastics. |
| B．The author’s views on Canada’s single-use plastic ban. |
| C．Reasons for the author’s criticism of Canada’s new plan. |
| D．Similarities between plastic pollution and the climate disaster. |
