Diets have changed in China — and so too has its top crop. Since 2011, the country
A taste for meat is
According to the World Bank, China accounts for about 30 percent of total
2 . People have different ways of dealing with waste paper, specifically used newspapers. Some put them in the recycling area, while others keep them as wrappers (包装纸). While these are both good measures, a Japanese publishing company had a better idea for their end use.
The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. invented the “Green Newspaper”, which allows people to grow plants with it. This unique newspaper was published on Greenery Day, which is focused on environmental news and made of green paper with seeds placed into it. What makes it even more special is the ink (油墨) used to print words and photos, which is made from plants. The publisher advises readers to tear the used newspaper into small pieces and plant them in a container with soil. They should water them, like they would do for any plant. Within a few weeks, the seeds will grow into plants.
This brilliant concept was invented by Dentsu Inc., one of Japan’s most famous advertising agencies, which works with the publishing company on the initiative (倡议). The publisher’s belief is environmental sustainability (持续性). As its mission statement says, “The Mainichi doesn’t take action only through information, but also by solving global issues.” With joint efforts, this initiative has reached the corners of Japan and sold around millions of copies daily. Other such initiatives producing plantable paper are also seen in India and the US.
About 95 million trees are lost for producing newspapers every year. The Internet, the number of whose users stands for 62.5 percent of the population worldwide, has influenced how people read news and the print readership has dropped greatly. However, the reinvention and reimagination of this newspaper will bring about a change in the publishing industry as well as having an environmental influence.
1. What do we know about the “Green Newspaper”?A.It uses high-tech materials. |
B.It provides energy for seeds. |
C.It’s printed with plant-based ink. |
D.It’s published to celebrate Greenery Day. |
A.It’s easier said than done. |
B.Everything comes to him who waits. |
C.Many hands make light work. |
D.Actions speak louder than words. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Supportive. |
C.Indifferent. | D.Negative. |
A.About 59 million trees are lost for producing newspapers. |
B.The Internet has changed the way people read news totally. |
C.The popularity of the Internet leads to the fall of the print readership. |
D.The “Green Newspaper” will encourage more people to protect the environment. |
As an ancient story goes, there was a family in China’s Shanxi Province that could hear someone crying in their courtyard every night. They followed the sound,
Ginseng has a
Ginseng likes a cool and moist environment and prefers loose sandy soil. In China, it grows mainly in
4 . With greater climate catastrophe (气候突变) on Earth, it is natural for us to make every effort to stop the potential floods, snowstorms, and alarming reports from scientists. For many of us (myself included), part of that means running out to buy reusable straws, organic cleaners, and packaging-free products.
However, before you are delighted at “green” purchases, take a second to consider the results of a new study from Arizona University. By comparing the shopping habits, mental health and environmental impact of young people, the researchers reconfirmed a principle: Buying less beats buying “green” stuff without effort. And that is true whether you are looking at the impact that your purchases have on the Earth or on your own happiness.
It should not come as a shock that simply consuming less is better for the planet. After all, every new item a factory yields requires some resources to produce. Take plastic bag bans for instance. If your city is getting rid of single-use shopping bags, it can be attractive to pay for a fashionable organic cotton bag hanging in the check-out line of your local supermarket. However, experts insist that growing cotton is actually no better for the Earth than producing the conventional plastic bags. Then what is your best bet for carrying your groceries if you care about sustainability? Any bag you already own.
It is not just the Earth that will be happier if you buy less. You will feel more contented too, according to the new study. “People believe that they might well be self-satisfied about becoming environmentally conscious through ‘green’ buying patterns, but it doesn’t seem to be that way”, said the lead researcher Sabrina Helm. “Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being, but we don’t see that with ‘green’ consumption.”
“Owning every new ‘green’ product on the market might make you feel contented, but if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better,” said Helm.
1. Why does the writer mention “green” shopping habits?A.To call on a green lifestyle. | B.To praise people’s green efforts. |
C.To introduce a social trend. | D.To present a half true “green” truth. |
A.The plastic bag bans are of no effect. | B.Using any bag you have is the best bet. |
C.Reduced consumption is better for the Earth. | D.Growing cotton is far worse for the Earth. |
A.The sense of achievement. | B.The sense of happiness. |
C.The sense of relief. | D.The sense of security. |
A.Less is More | B.The Greener, The Happier |
C.Happiness Guarantee | D.What Are Green Products? |
5 . I looked out of the door of my 100-year-old house and saw my newly built garden. I realized nothing is rubbish. I was full of joy and
I
My neighbors would put the autumn
Nothing has to be really
A.appreciation | B.sympathy | C.doubt | D.regret |
A.hurried | B.expected | C.wanted | D.started |
A.implements | B.garbage | C.investments | D.appliances |
A.packed up | B.brought out | C.threw away | D.gave away |
A.value | B.request | C.cost | D.consequence |
A.own | B.find | C.remember | D.lose |
A.collecting | B.recovering | C.recycling | D.saving |
A.sorting | B.picking | C.spotting | D.recording |
A.uniform | B.broken | C.limitless | D.separate |
A.fruit | B.corn | C.leaves | D.vegetables |
A.compare | B.deal | C.compete | D.fit |
A.platform | B.garden | C.grocer | D.dormitory |
A.building | B.tent | C.sign | D.show |
A.piled | B.polished | C.decorated | D.cleaned |
A.unwillingly | B.impatiently | C.seriously | D.loyally |
A.sold | B.sowed | C.removed | D.reserved |
A.smelly | B.annoying | C.imaginary | D.attractive |
A.useless | B.careless | C.priceless | D.hopeless |
A.exciting | B.special | C.violent | D.disgusting |
A.money | B.treasure | C.garden | D.ingredient |
6 . FitzGerald is a 16-year-old long-distance runner from Devon, England, who has set a national record in the under-17s 3, 000 meters, but now she’s getting noticed for her commitment to saving the planet.
FitzGerald finished fourth in the under-20s race at the European Cross Country Championships in Italy last December, but her journey to get there made it even more impressive. To reach Turin in Italy, FitzGerald could have taken a quick flight. However, flying releases carbon dioxide. Instead, she took an overnight coach to Lille in France, then trains to first Paris, then Turin, cycling between stations. Despite her tiring journey, she beat athletes three years older than her.
FitzGerald turned down the chance to compete at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia. She told Athletics Weekly magazine that the decision wasn’t easy but that travelling fills her “with deep concern”. “To have the opportunity to compete for Great Britain in Australia is a privilege,” FitzGerald said. “However, I would never be comfortable flying in the knowledge that people could be losing their livelihoods, homes and loved ones as a result. The least I can do is voice my solidarity (团结一致) with those suffering on the front line of climate breakdown.”
FitzGerald’s refusal to fly has led people to compare her to the climate activist Thunberg, who once travelled to New York by boat. FitzGerald could travel by ship to Australia, but it would take her more than a month to get there. FitzGerald knows her choice to put the needs of the Earth first could affect her athletics career, but she has to act as if it’s an emergency.
Champions for Earth, an organization for environmentally-friendly athletes, said: “She is looking for sponsors and supporters who can help her with the more expensive public transport, accommodation and eco-friendly kit that she requires. It is clear that FitzGerald has the steely determination and focus, combined with the courage and clarity to face a reality quite different to athletes of previous generations.”
1. Why did FitzGerald make headlines?A.Because she chose green transport instead of a flight to Italy. |
B.Because she made a national record in 3, 000 meters in England. |
C.Because she devoted all her time to eco-environment in England. |
D.Because she won the champion in the cross country race in Italy. |
A.Ungreen travelling. | B.Tiring competing in Italy. |
C.Changeable climate on the way. | D.Affected athletics career. |
A.Acting immediately if there is an emergency. |
B.Preferring taking the ship instead of the flight. |
C.Spending all their life in protecting the environment. |
D.Choosing the eco-friendly means of transportation. |
A.Honest and outgoing. | B.Determined and concentrated. |
C.Attractive and modest. | D.Courageous and humorous. |
China's online food delivery platform Ele.me has carried out a new service of picking up garbage from its users in Shanghai
The service comes after
The trash taking service requires residents to sort
It's obvious that this service is
However, many netizens on Sina Weibo don't think Ele.me is providing a wonderful service, saying it just wants
8 . Prince William, second in line to the British throne, gave his first TED Talk on Saturday to launch his Earthshot Prize, a competition that will award five £ 1 million prize money every year for the next decade to those who can come up with solutions to environmental problems.
Any person, group or organization around the world is qualified, and any suggestion is welcome, so long as it is applicable globally. It could be a new technology, a new approach, a new governmental policy or any other ideas toward five environmental goals -fixing the climate, purifying the air, protecting nature, cleaning oceans and handling waste.
"Earthshot" was inspired by John F. Kennedy's "Moonshot," an ambitious 1961 mission to get a man on the moon within a decade. The purpose of the prize is partly to arouse excitement and offer what Prince William called “a bit of catalyst, a bit of hope, a bit of positivity" at a time when the world needs. The money will come from donors around the world. The prize committee includes many celebrities.
Prince William has environmental activism in his blue blood. Both his grandfather, and his father Prince Charles were active environmentalists. Prince William acknowledged his heritage by saying he had always listened, learned and believed what they were saying about the environment. Besides speaking wise words, he also puts forward a good prize. Over a million pounds is significantly more than a Nobel Prize and should inspire some serious and creative thinking about the difficulties of Planet Earth. Unlike the Nobel Prize money, the Earthshot money is supposed to be spent on the winning project. “If we achieve these goals, by 2030 our lives won't be worse, and we won't have to sacrifice everything we enjoy. Instead, the way we live will be healthier, cleaner, smarter, and better for all of us," he said.
1. What can be learned about The Earth shot Prize?A.It will be awarded to Britons. |
B.It aims to solve social problems. |
C.It is named after a moon mission. |
D.It offers £ 50 million in total. |
A.a method to monitor sea levels |
B.a new technology to forecast the weather |
C.a new approach to recycling the waste |
D.a local government policy to ban fishing |
A.Encouragement. | B.Alarm. | C.Challenge. | D.Surprise. |
A.Earthshot Prize equals Nobel Prize. |
B.Planet Earth will be cleaned by 2030. |
C.Prince William only talks the talk. |
D.Prince William is influenced by his family. |
9 . Sugar cane (甘蔗) contains around 10% sugar. But that means it contains around 90% non-sugar — the material known as bagasse (甘蔗渣) which remains once the sugar-bearing juice has been squeezed out of the cane. World production of cane sugar was 185m tonnes in 2017. That results in a lot of bagasse.
At the moment, most of this is burned. Often, it fuels local generators, so it is not wasted. But Zhu Hongli, a mechanical engineer at Northeastern University in Boston thinks it can be put to better use. "With a bit of improvement bagasse makes an excellent replacement for the plastic used for disposable food containers such as coffee cups," says Dr. Zhu.
Dr. Zhu is not the first person to have this idea. But previous attempts tended not to survive contact with liquids. She thought she could overcome that by combining the bagasse pulp (浆状物) with another biodegradable (可生物降解的) material. She discovered that the main reason past efforts failed is that bagasse is composed of short fibres which are unable to give resilience (韧性) to the finished product. She therefore sought to insert a suitably long-fibred substance.
Bamboo seemed to fit the bill. It grows quickly, degrades readily and has appropriately long fibres. When the researchers mixed a small amount of bamboo pulp into bagasse, they found that the short and long fibres combined with each other closely.
To put their new material through its paces, Dr. Zhu and her colleagues fist poured hot oil onto it and found that their invention showed resistance to oil. They also found that when they made a cup out of the stuff and filled it with water heated almost to the boiling point, the cup remained good for more than two hours. Though this is not as long as a plastic cup would last it is long enough for all practical purposes. Moreover, the new material is twice as strong as the plastic used to make cups, and is definitely biodegradable. When Dr. Zhu buried a cup made out of it in the ground, half of it rotted away within two months.
1. What does paragraph l mainly talk about?A.A big international market for cane sugar. | B.A plant containing a high content of sugar. |
C.The large amount of world bagasse production. | D.The environmental impact of planting sugar cane. |
A.They broke easily when wet. | B.They were non-biodegradable. |
C.They consumed little bagasse. | D.They had too much resilience. |
A.Avoid the attempts. | B.Meet the requirements. |
C.Fill the vacancy. | D.Survive the environment. |
A.It can satisfy basic usage needs. | B.It is hardly as strong as plastic cups. |
C.It can disappear in two months if buried. | D.It is unlikely to be used as an oil container. |
10 . In ancient Egypt, the rich soils along the Nile River supported roughly 3 million people. Now there are 30 times that number of people living in Egypt, with the Egyptian population soaring from 45 million in the 1980s to over 100 million now.
Just 4% of Egypt’s land is suitable for agriculture, and that number is reducing quickly due to the urban and suburban development. “It’s not an overstatement to say that this is a crisis,” said Nasem Badreldin, an expert at the University of Manitoba. “Satellite data shows that Egypt is losing about 2% of its farmland per decade due to urbanization, and the process is speeding. If this continues, Egypt will face serious food security problems.” According to one analysis, the amount of farmland near Alexandria dropped by 11% between 1987 and 2019, while urban areas increased by 11%. In recent years, the Egyptian government has promised to end unlicensed building on farmland, which remains a difficult task to fulfill.
Urbanization isn’t the only factor to reduce Egypt’s farmland. Sea level rise of 1.6 millimeters per year has contributed to the salinization (盐碱化) of farmland in Egypt. About 15% of Egypt’s richest farmland has already been damaged by sea level rise and saltwater intrusion (侵入). One response to the loss of farmland has included efforts to green parts of the desert. For instance, Farouk El-Baz, Boston University scientist, has planned to build highways, railways, water pipelines, and power lines to promote the establishment of new farmland in deserts west of the delta.
While that project hasn’t been finished, much of desert has turned into farmland in recent decades. The satellite photos show new farmland along the Cairo Highway. A mixture of center-pivot irrigation (灌溉) and drip irrigation makes farming in this area possible. “It is certainly possible to establish new farmland from the desert by tapping groundwater resources, though it’s a little expensive process,” said Badreldin.
1. What does the underlined “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?A.The urban expansion. | B.The reduction of farmland. |
C.The suburban development. | D.The growth of population. |
A.Four. | B.Three. | C.Two. | D.Five. |
A.Uncertain. | B.Optimistic. | C.Disapproving. | D.Unconcerned. |
A.Food Security Problems in Egypt |
B.Urbanization Along the Nile River |
C.Agricultural Development Along the Nile River |
D.Egypt’s Disappearing Farmland |