1 . Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000 three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels.
1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas’ house ________.| A．is well worth the money spent on its construction |
| B．is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation |
| C．failed to meet energy conservation standards |
| D．was designed and constructed in a scientific way |
| A．Poor quality of the air inside. | B．Poor quality of the construction. |
| C．Gas leakage in the kitchen. | D．The newly painted walls. |
| A．relieve | B．accelerate | C．worsen | D．improve |
| A．Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized. |
| B．Because energy used to be inexpensive. |
| C．Because environmental protection was given top priority. |
| D．Because they were technically unavoidable. |
| A．Energy Conservation | B．House Building Crisis |
| C．Air Pollution Indoors | D．Traps in Building Construction |
1. 简述学校内存在的环境问题;
2. 可以采取的措施;(至少写出两点措施或建议)
3. 提出倡议。
注意：词数 100 左右;可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
What Can We Do for the Environment in Our School
Hello, everyone.
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Thank you for your listening.
1.活动的目的；
2.活动的安排（活动时间、提供三项可选活动以及报名参加的方式）；
3.表达期待。
注意：1.词数不少于100，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Notice
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Students’ Union
4 . On November 7, Lewis Pugh completed a one-kilometer swim in the freezing waters of King Edward Cove, off South Georgia in Antarctica. He was wearing only his swimming glasses, cap and Speedos!
Pugh is an advocate for our oceans and seas, working to protect these ecosystems with their large diversity of marine (海洋的) life. When asked why he doesn’t wear a wetsuit (防寒泳衣), Lewis says, “I ask world leaders to do everything they can to protect our oceans. Sometimes the steps they need to take are difficult and unpopular. If I’m asking them to be courageous, I must also be. Swimming in a wetsuit would not send the right message.”
It took Pugh about 19 minutes to complete the one-kilometer swim in Antarctica where the water averaged about 1. 6℃. He says that his body can only tolerate about 20 minutes in the freezing waters before it starts shutting down. As he swims, his body temperature steadily drops, which in turn causes his muscle control to drop, slowing him down. When he is done with his swim, his support team rushes him to a hot shower and it takes almost an hour for his body temperature to return to normal.
Doctors and Pugh caution that one must receive months of training to swim in such cold waters. Even expert swimmers who are unused to freezing water can drown within minutes because of the physical shock experienced by the body. Pugh says he trained for six months before this swim.
This is not the first time that Lewis has swum in dangerous conditions. In 2007, he swam one kilometer in the North Pole to draw attention to the melting Arctic ice due to climate change. In 2015, he swam in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica’s Ross Sea as part of his successful campaign to help set up a marine reserve there.
1. Why did Lewis Pugh swim without a wetsuit?| A．To swim faster. | B．To show his bravery. |
| C．To build up his body. | D．To win public attention. |
| A．His body. | B．The water. |
| C．His body temperature. | D．The water temperature. |
| A．One must be fully prepared. | B．One should be expert at swimming. |
| C．One should be ready to take on challenges. | D．One must be used to long-distance swimming. |
| A．Ambitious and self-centered. | B．Hardworking and single-minded. |
| C．Optimistic and environmentally friendly. | D．Determined and environmentally conscious. |
| A．Lewis Pugh: swimming for a cause | B．How to survive a swim in cold waters |
| C．How to prepare for extreme swimming | D．Lewis Pugh: achieving the impossible |
5 . Earth is a big place, but size isn’t everything. The planet’s richest ecosystems are in rapid decline, forcing us to acknowledge countless creatures worldwide are running out of room.
85% of all species on the IUCN Red List are endangered due to many forms of habitat loss, from complete deforestation to less obvious effects of pollution and climate change. Every species needs a certain amount of habitat to find food, shelter and mates, but for a growing number of animals, the space where their ancestors found those things is now overrun by humans. As habitats decline, animals also grow more vulnerable to secondary dangers like disease or conflict with people.
According to many scientists and conservationists, the best strategy to avoid a dramatic loss of biodiversity is to set aside half of Earth’s surface area for wildlife. That might sound like a big sacrifice at first, but upon closer inspection, it’s still an incredibly sweet deal for us: One species gets half the planet, and all other species must share the other half. This idea has been around for years, confirmed in programmes like the WILD Foundation’s “Nature Needs Half” campaign, but it has gained more different opinions recently. And it may now have one of its most forceful arguments yet, thanks to a 2016 book by well-known biologist E. O. Wilson titled Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life.
Half-Earth, therefore, isn’t so different from today’s Earth. We’re already doing many of the right things, as Wilson recently told the University of California-Berkeley’s Breakthroughs magazine. We still have a few big biodiversity zones left, and others that could still recover. We just need to protect as many wilderness areas as we can, fill in gaps wherever possible and do no further harm. “I’m sure we can go from 10% to 50% coverage, land and sea,” Wilson says. “It could be large reserves that still exist, like in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia, in the taiga, the major wilderness areas of Congo, in Papua New Guinea, the Amazon—these can be made inviolate reserves; they can be pieced together.”
1. What is the main cause of wildlife’s rapid decline?| A．Habitat loss. | B．Terrible disease. |
| C．Conflict with people. | D．Poor living conditions. |
| A．The method to save our planet. | B．The real profession of E.O. Wilson. |
| C．The solution to avoiding wildlife decline. | D．The origin of “Nature Needs Half” campaign. |
| A．Curious. | B．Confused. | C．Concerned. | D．Confident. |
| A．Sharing the Earth with other animals. | B．Changing our attitude toward wildlife. |
| C．Increasing the population of wild animals. | D．Protecting the existing habitat for wildlife. |
Kevin Randall, a biology teacher at Grandville High School, runs the environmental club at the high school, which has around 2,000 students. The club is known as the GHS Green Team, and it aims to raise awareness among students. It also works on projects to reduce the environmental footprint of the building itself.
One of the club's recent projects focused on reducing waste in the school cafeteria. Randall said their cafeteria supervisor told them that the school went through 54,000 plastic forks every year. The club applied for a financial help, built recycling centers for the cafeteria, and purchased metal silverware.
And now every student uses a durable metal for kora spoon instead of disposables(一次性用品) , “and that's just one way we're trying to capture the low-hanging fruit, if you will,” Randall said.
The efforts of Randall and his students have earned Grandville High School the Michigan Green School certification from the state. In addition to their work reducing waste in the cafeteria, the GHS Green Team has also built a garden with flowers and vegetables on campus, and leads cleanups on site and out in the community. Over the years, Randall and his students have also been working on raising money to install solar panels(太阳能板) on the roof of the high school.
Randall said he was motivated to take the lead on environmental issues for his school because he wanted his students to have someone to turn to in the building who understands what's at stake(利害攸关) when it comes to climate change.
“And I also felt like I needed to do more in my life for my own two children at home,” Randall added, “They need to know that their dad is working as hard a she can to reduce the effects of climate change, and to spread the word, and to make sure that other students out there are leaning about this just the way they are at home.”
1. What is the purpose of the GHS Green Team club?(No more than 10 words)2. How did the club help the school cafeteria reduce waste?(No more than 15 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined part the low-hanging fruit in Para 3?(No more than 5 words)
4. What’s the fourth paragraph mainly about?(No more than 10 words)
5. Suppose you are in charge of a similar Green Club, what activity will you organize? And why?(no more than 20 words)
7 . Wind power is a very clean source of energy. This is how wind power works. Wind makes windmills spin(旋转). When the windmills spin, they make electricity. Then we can use the electricity.
A lot of people think that wind power is new, but that’s not true. For thousands of years, people have used wind to sail boats and move water. We still do those things today, but these days we mostly use wind power to make electricity.
Wind power is a very popular source of energy. Most people think that we should use it more and more. First of all, it’s clean. Windmills don’t pollute the environment at all. Second, we can use wind power forever. After all, we will always have wind. Also, wind power is cheap, and it’s getting even cheaper.
A lot of people don’t understand wind power very well. They believe that there are problems with wind power, but many of those problems are not real. For example, some people say that windmills are dangerous for birds. They used to be true, but it isn’t true anymore. Old windmills killed birds because they spun very fast. New windmills spin slowly, and they aren’t dangerous for birds.
However, there are real problems with windmills. One problem is that many people think windmills are very ugly. This is a problem for people, because windmills are often in very pretty areas. Also, wind doesn’t blow all the time, so we can’t use wind power all the time. Finally, windmills are noisy.
Wind power is becoming more and more common. Right now, more than 80 countries use wind power. About 2.5 percent of the world’s power comes from the wind. For some countries, that number is a lot higher. Wind power gives Denmark more than 25 percent of its electricity.
1. Why DON’T new windmills kill birds? Because ________.| A．birds don’t fly near them | B．they are shorter than old windmills |
| C．they spin slowly | D．new windmills don’t spin |
| A．Over 1,000 years ago. | B．About 500 years ago. |
| C．About 80 years ago. | D．About 25 years ago. |
| A．We can’t use windmills at night |
| B．Windmills break all the time |
| C．Wind doesn’t blow all the time |
| D．Windmills are too expensive to use all the time |
| A．Most people don’t like it. | B．Denmark doesn’t use it. |
| C．It’s getting more expensive. | D．It’s getting cheaper. |
| A．Dangerous Birds | B．Popular and Clean Wind Power |
| C．Cheap and Clean Energy | D．Expensive Windmills |
(1). 活动时间、地点；
(2). 活动的目的；
(3). 活动的内容和意义。
注意：
(1). 词数不少于100；
(2). 可以适当增加情节，以使行文连贯；
(3). 邮件的开头和结尾已经给出，但是不计入总词数。
Dear Susan,
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Yours,
Li Hua
One cool April 22 morning, people started the day as usual. Yet it was not a normal day. What’s so special about April 22? The answer is simple. It is Earth Day. People all over the world celebrate this important day. The idea of having a special day to celebrate Earth began in the 1960s. Life was very different then. Few people talked or even thought about the environment. Most people had no idea how dirty our air and water were.
On April 22, 1970, twenty million Americans joined the first Earth Day activities. They showed that people really did want to do something about the environment. Since then laws have been passed to protect the air, water, land and animals.
The vehicles such as cars and buses you ride in must pass tests to make sure they don’t cause too much pollution. Thanks to this law, cars today release about half as many bad chemicals as cars did back in 1970. As a result, the air we breathe is cleaner than it once was.
Rivers and lakes are also cleaner today than they were in the 1970s. It’s a good thing because they needed a lot of help. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was so polluted that rubbish and oil on the river even caught fire! Today, the river is cleaner. It no longer burns. It’s healthy enough for birds, fish and other animals.
Now the celebration has spread to other countries. More than 175 countries take part each year.
In 2007, people in China paid much attention to a big problem. People were throwing away 27 million plastic bags a day! People had “Bye-Bye Throwaway Culture Week”. They wanted everyone to see how polluted it was to throw away so many plastic bags. In 2008, China passed new laws against them.
Every April 22, millions get together to clean and protect Earth. They also celebrate how far we have come. Our job is to put this knowledge to work. You can help keep our planet healthy too!
1. What is so special about April 22? (no more than 5 words)2. When did twenty million Americans join the first Earth Day activities? (no more than 5 words)
3. What caught fire on the Cuyahoga River? (no more than 5 words)
4. How many countries take part in the celebration each year now? (no more than 3 words)
5. What can you do to celebrate Earth Day? (no more than 20 words)
10 . In the United States, most of our electricity comes from power plants (发电厂) that burn coal and oil.
There are two big problems with using these things for electricity. First, their supply is limited (有限的). Second, burning them causes pollution. So to make sure we always have power and to keep our planet clean, we must find other ways to make electricity.
Some people think that wind power is our best choice. First, there will always be more wind. Also, wind power does not pollute the environment. Best of all, we don’t have to search for wind.
Today, less than 1 percent of our electricity comes from wind. But scientists have been developing better wind machines. As a result, wind power is getting more popular in this country.
Yet wind power may not keep growing so quickly in years to come. Why not? Many wind turbines (风力涡轮机) are needed to make much electricity. So wind-power companies try to build wind farms but are competing (竞争) with other uses for the land. A wind farm is a group of turbines placed close together in an area with frequent winds.
In places where companies try to build wind farms, people think that lines of turbines are ugly. Noise from turbines often troubles people. Also, turbines kill birds that fly into them.
Wind-power supporters disagree. They think the sight of wind turbines is lovely. They point out that people have gotten used to living near noisy highways. They say ways can be found to keep birds away from turbines.
In today’s world, we need clean and unlimited power sources more than ever. Unless a better power source comes along, people may just have to accept wind power as a part of their lives.
1. The underlined part “these things” in the second paragraph refers to ________.| A．frequent winds. | B．wind turbines. |
| C．power plants. | D．coal and oil. |
| A．How wind power works. |
| B．How wind power was found. |
| C．The advantages of wind power. |
| D．The development of wind power. |
| A．It is very expensive to build lots of wind turbines. |
| B．It is difficult to improve the wind power technology. |
| C．There are few people who accept it as a new power source. |
| D．Many wind turbines are needed and there is less space for them. |
| A．make a loud noise. |
| B．look very beautiful. |
| C．are built near highways. |
| D．provide places for birds to stay. |
| A．The Role of Wind. |
| B．The Power of Wind. |
| C．The Cost of Wind Power. |
| D．The History of Wind Power. |
