1 . With the European Climate Law, the EU will achieve carbon neutrality (碳中和) by 2050. What would that mean in practice?
Climate change is already affecting the entire world, with extreme weather conditions such as drought, heat waves, heavy rain, floods and landslides becoming more frequent. Other consequences of the rapidly changing climate include rising sea levels, ocean acidification and loss of biodiversity.
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide(CO2)increase average temperatures worldwide, which in turn contribute to rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and other factors associated with climate change. In order to limit global warming, carbon neutrality is very important.
Being “carbon neutral” means that you produce the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that you offset by some other means. Achieving carbon neutrality means that your carbon dioxide output has no impact on the environment. But unless you rely entirely on renewable energy, your carbon footprint most likely isn’t zero.
Will your efforts make a difference? Everything you do that produces carbon dioxide — from driving to powering your home and more — makes up your carbon footprint. Adding solar panels to your home, or switching to an electric vehicle are examples of things you can do to reduce your carbon dioxide output. You can turn down the heat. You can find tools to calculate your carbon footprint. You can also take steps to either directly reduce or indirectly offset the carbon dioxide you send back into the environment. Switching to renewable energy sources like wind, solar heating directly reduces your carbon footprint; so does biking or walking instead of driving.
“We are all part of the solution,” wrote UN Secretary — General Ban Ki — moon. “Whether you are an individual, a business, an organization or a government, there are many steps you can take to reduce carbon dioxide. It is a message we must all take to heart.”
1. Why is carbon neutrality very important?| A．It can help control climate change. | B．It will cause loss of biodiversity. |
| C．It will change weather patterns. | D．It can prevent the extreme weather conditions. |
| A．Give off. | B．Take in. |
| C．Cancel out. | D．Make up. |
| A．Power your home with renewable energy. | B．Drive to and from work. |
| C．Turn down the heat. | D．Add solar panels to your house. |
| A．Individuals can do little to reduce carbon footprint. |
| B．Everyone can make a difference to reducing carbon footprint. |
| C．Everyone should take the message into heart. |
| D．As long as we take measures, carbon neutrality will be achieved. |
2 . A recent survey carried out by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) found about half of clothes sold online by major fast fashion sellers are made completely from virgin polyester (纯聚酯纤维). The group studied over 10,000 clothes posted online during a two-week period in May by ASOS, Boohoo, Missguided, and PrettyLittleThing, and it made some worrying findings.
As many as 88% of the clothes on the above-mentioned websites cover virgin polyester mixed with other materials (材料). Very few have reused materials. In many cases, clothes covering both reused and virgin polyester had the word “reused” added to the product’s title, which is misleading.
The RSA study points out the production of virgin polyester causes big environmental damage. According to an MIT study, we can know that “a polyester shirt produces 5.5kg of CO2, 20% more than cotton (棉), and the same as CO2 produced by driving 13 miles in a passenger car. In 2015, polyester production was responsible for 700 million tonnes of CO2”. Clothes made cheaply from virgin polyester are not much different from the single-use plastic (塑料) packaging that is causing much environmental damage to the world.
Shoppers would do well to start viewing virgin polyester as similar to single-use plastic packaging. In order to encourage this, RSA hopes that shoppers will buy more natural fabrics, which are likely to age better, last longer, and not cause as much pollution once thrown away. The most useful strategy, of course, is to buy less. To be clear, RSA is not against all new polyester in clothing — it just needs to be used more responsibly.
1. What is described in Paragraph 2?| A．The difficulty in green production. | B．The popularity of online shopping. |
| C．The poor design of clothes sold online. | D．The actual materials used in most clothes. |
| A．By listing some examples. | B．By doing an experiment. |
| C．By referring to another study. | D．By using an expert’s words. |
| A．Advances in technology. | B．Less attention to fashion. |
| C．A change in shopping habits. | D．The disappearance of plastic. |
| A．Plastic packaging is still widely used. | B．Fast fashion causes an environmental problem. |
| C．It is unwise to follow the general fashion. | D．Environmental problems become more serious. |
3 . Heatwaves in the U. S. and floods in western Europe have dominated the news cycle recently, forcing us to re-examine the relationship between climate change and extreme weather. Other catastrophes are going unnoticed.
In the past week, 380,000 people have been evacuated due to floods in China’s Henan province,30 villages in Uganda were affected as rivers overflowed and 25 people died in landslides after Mumbai was hit by big storms. Temperatures in Turkey and North Africa approached 50 °C, while South Africa and Brazil froze. Siberia is battling wildfires again. Finland experienced 31 continued days with maximum temperatures above 25 °C, the longest heatwave ever recorded in the country. In Iran, the hottest summer in decades has led to water shortages that in turn caused protests in the country’s southwest.
All these disasters are part of a series of extreme weather events that paint a picture of a world that’s already warmed 1.2 C from pre-industrial times. There’s no doubt that it will get warmer.
The global climate is out of balance, German meteorologist Johannes Quaas said in an interview last week. Our climate’s reaction to greenhouse gas emissions isn’t immediate. The warming and resulting weather events that we see today are a reaction to emissions that entered the atmosphere decades ago.
Scientists estimate that, even if we meet global emissions reduction goals, the planet will continue to warm after that. That will take the planet to somewhere between 1. 5 °C to 2 C above pre-industrial times by the end of the century. While their warming predictions have been correct in the past, there’s no way to be absolutely sure when temperatures will stop rising, because the experiment we’re running on the planet has never been attempted before.
Death, violence and destruction are all signs of humanity’s struggle to adapt to a changing climate. ”lt seems like there’s something in human nature that makes us be behind the events, and not ahead,”said Hans-Otto Portner, an adviser to the German government on climate and the environment. “ Maybe that’s because the nature of unprecedented events is that we can ‘t imagine what’s coming. ”
1. How is the second paragraph of the article developed?| A．By making comparisons. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By presenting research results. | D．By analyzing the facts. |
| A．Temperatures won’t necessarily continue to rise. |
| B．Extreme weather contributes to disasters to some degree. |
| C．Scientists can effectively control climate changes. |
| D．Climate’s response to greenhouse gas emission is quick. |
| A．Global emissions reduction target will be soon met. | B．Temperatures have risen by 2 ℃ up to now. |
| C．Global warming will undoubtedly continue. | D．Temperatures will stop rising for sure. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A science fiction. | C．A newspaper. | D．A feature story. |
4 . Last summer, a team of 15 primary and middle school students did a research on the biodiversity (生物多样性) of a small wetland (湿地) in Wuhan’s Houxianghe Park. They observed and recorded the number of plant and animal species (物种) there and made suggestions for improvement.
During their field research, the team found that there were few fish in the wetland. After further study, they found that there were not enough plants in the wetland for fish and other animals to develop in large groups.
In the following courses, students worked together to create design drawings and make a wetland-recovering plan. Thanks to their efforts, the biodiversity of the wetland has been greatly improved.
“It’s very meaningful,” said a primary school student in Wuhan. “I have learned a lot about strange animals and plants, and have also seen the improvement of the wetland. I’ll take part in more activities like this. ”
“It’s not easy for children to have a connection to nature in the city,” said an expert. “We should make full use of the city’s wetland and encourage more children to get closer to nature through the ‘Park Classes’ programme.”
In the past six years, the programme has carried out over 3, 000 activities in Wuhan’s 32 parks. It inspires students from primary and middle schools to learn more about environmental protection, and helps them get close to nature, developing their ability to explore and take action.
1. Why were there few fish in the wetland?| A．People caught too many of them. |
| B．Plants for them were not enough. |
| C．Other animals ate many of them. |
| A．It causes trouble. | B．It connects parks. | C．It benefits children. |
| A．Experts. | B．Students. | C．Teachers. |
| A．Houxianghe Park is very attractive to tourists. |
| B．Outdoor classes give children a feel for nature. |
| C．Experts and students work together for Wuhan. |
5 . Industry must speed up investment in new technologies that allow manufacture (大量制造) of materials using renewable electricity if net zero emission (排放) targets are to be met, research led by the University of Leeds warns.
Ensuring that no electricity is produced from fossil fuels by 2050 is vital for achieving net zero. However, its effect will be limited if industry cannot use this electricity. Steel manufacturing alone accounts for a tenth of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in industrialised countries but latest estimates suggest new technologies to manufacture steel using electricity will not become fully operational until at least 2040.
The lead author of the study, Dr Alan Grainger, from the University of Leeds School of Geography, said, “ Delays in replacing existing steel manufacturing capacity represent a crucial ‘lock in’ constraint (约束) on achieving net zero. ” Humanity’s great dependence on steel, which accounts for 94% of all metal production, is a huge blockage that cannot be ignored, The UK Net Zero Strategy, published last week, recognizes this problem, but lacks detail on how to deal with it.
Governments should strengthen international carbon reporting standards for energy-intensive industries, the paper says, so that total levels of CO2 production during the manufacture and lifetime of materials can be measured more obviously in assessing progress towards national net zero targets. The carbon price also needs to rise to make it economically viable (可行的) to introduce new manufacturing technologies with low CO2 emission.
1. What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 1?| A．To warn industry not to use electricity. | B．To show the amount of CO2 emission. |
| C．To attract investment for the research. | D．To give a warning to industry. |
| A．Using wood instead of steel. | B．Using less electricity from fossil fuels. |
| C．Using technical instruments. | D．Using electricity from green energy. |
| A．Policy. | B．Influence. | C．Barrier. | D．Advantage. |
| A．Industry must prepare for green electricity |
| B．Industry must achieve net zero emission target |
| C．Industry must speed up investment in electricity |
| D．Governments should strengthen carbon standards |
| A．The environment. | B．An activity. | C．A lifestyle. |
1. What does the man mean by saying “call the shots”?
| A．Ask questions. | B．Avoid trouble. | C．Have control. |
| A．Persuade the girl. | B．Make a call to Frank. | C．Clean up the beach. |
8 . Can you imagine that there are a huge number of tiny waste pieces in the Arctic (北极的) sea ice? Because of the waste pieces, 30,000 kinds of animals are in danger. It’s true that one person’s acts alone can’t help the planet. But each one of us can find ways to make our contributions.
In the home, we could try not to waste foods. Use a digital meal planner to get a right amount of food so that everything we buy and cook gets eaten. Learn how to store foods to keep them fresh longer. Be sure to use proper ways to keep our home warm. For example we can replace old windows with energy-saving ones.
At the store, we could green our habits. Buy reusable plates, but not single-use ones. Buy home tissue not made of materials which may lead to destruction of forests. Buy glass cups instead of paper ones.
In the community, we could help keep its plants healthy. Take part in tree-planting projects or grass-cutting activities to help plants grow well.
Our actions alone can’t save the planet, but the above ways and habits can help.
1. In which sea can we find many tiny waste pieces according to the text?| A．The Arctic sea. | B．The Atlantic sea. | C．The Indian sea. |
| A．To buy home tissue. | B．To cook delicious foods. | C．To keep foods fresh longer. |
| A．The act of building something. |
| B．The act of destroying something. |
| C．The act of protecting something. |
| A．Useless. | B．Helpful. | C．Doubtful. |
9 . We're so attached to plastic, but we're careless consumers. Waste plastic is entering our ecosystems and food chains with untold consequences. Cleaning up our polluted world of plastic may seem a noble, but thankless task. However, some people are seeing economic opportunity in the mission.
Plastic Bank, a social enterprise from Canada, is monetizing plastic recycling while empowering those most affected by the waste. It works to prevent waste plastic from entering oceans by encouraging people in developing countries to collect plastic from their communities in exchange for cash, food, clean water or school tuition for their children. After collection, plastic is weighed, sorted, chipped, melted into balls and sold on as“raw material”to be made into everything from bottles for cleaning products to clothing.
“I saw in large quantities; I saw an opportunity,”CEO David Katz told the audience at the Sustainable Brands Oceans conference in Porto, Portugal on November 14.“We reveal the value in this material,”he added.
Plastic Bank was founded in 2013 and launched on the ground operations in 2014 in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western, Hemisphere, where close to 60% of the population live under the poverty line. As result of poor waste disposal and recycling infrastructure (基础设施)，plastic waste enters rivers or is burned and poses the health threats to the local residents.
The company says i has over 2,000 collectors working in the country, with its full- time collectors on average 63% above the poverty line thanks to the income they make from the project. Through its app based payment system, many collectors now have bank accounts for the first time, and are able to ultimately escape ultra poverty.
“Nothing we're doing is against the laws of physics,”said Katz. “All the technology exists for us to solve and save the world. It's only creative thought.”
1. What is Plastic Bank aimed to do?| A．Test out creative ideas. |
| B．Discover new material. |
| C．Promote plastic recycling. |
| D．Stop people using plastic. |
| A．Purchasing- collecting—recycling. |
| B．Exchanging collecting—purchasing. |
| C．Collecting- exchanging—reproducing. |
| D．Persuading consuming—reproducing. |
| A．Haiti attaches great importance to recycling. |
| B．Many locals benefit greatly from the project. |
| C．Collecting is an efficient way to recycle waste. |
| D．The project has solved unemployment in Haiti: |
| A．Companies stand to ban plastic consumption |
| B．Technology finds its way to kick off poverty |
| C．David Katz speaks at the conference in Porto |
| D．Plastic Bank is fighting against plastic waste |
10 . Hardware in general, and smartphones in particular, have become a huge environmental and health problem in the Global South's landfill sites (垃圾填埋场).
Electronic waste(e-waste) currently takes up 5 percent of all global waste, and it is set to increase rapidly as more of us own more than one smartphone, laptop and power bank. They end up in places like Agbogbloshie on the outskirts of Ghana's capital, Accra. It is the biggest e-waste dump in the world, where 10,000 informal workers walk through tons of abandoned goods as part of an informal recycling process. They risk their health searching for the precious metals that are found in abandoned smartphones.
But Agbogbloshie should not exist. The Basel Convention, a 1989 treaty, aims to prevent developed nations from unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries. The e-waste industry, however, circumvents regulations by exporting e-waste labelled as "secondhand goods' to poor countries like Ghana, knowing full well that it is heading for a landfill site.
A recent report found Agbogbloshie contained some of the most dangerous chemicals. This is not surprising: smartphones contain chemicals like mercury (水银), lead and even arsenic (砷). Reportedly, one egg from a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie contained a certain chemical which can cause cancer and damage the immune system at a level that's about 220 times greater than a limit set by the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA). Most worryingly, these poisonous chemicals are free to pollute the broader soil and water system. This should concern us all, since some of Ghana's top exports are cocoa and nuts.
Some governments have started to take responsibility for their consumers' waste. For example, Germany has started a project that includes a sustainable recycling system at Agbogbloshie, along with a health clinic for workers. However, governments cannot solve the problem alone, as there is an almost limitless consumer demand for hardware, especially when governments' green policies are focused on issues like climate change.
Only the manufacturers can fix this. A more economically sustainable and politically possible solution is through encouraging hardware manufacturers to make the repair, reuse and recycling of hardware profitable, or at least cost-neutral.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?| A．Electronic waste requires more landfill sites across Ghana. |
| B．Electronic waste is too complex to get fully recycled. |
| C．Electronic products need to be improved urgently. |
| D．Electronic pollution is a burning question in Agbogbloshie. |
| A．Abolishes. | B．Tightens. | C．Brings in. | D．Gets around. |
| A．The threat of polluted food around the world. |
| B．The damage of chicken’s immune system. |
| C．The lack of diversity in Ghana’s exports. |
| D．The violation of EFSA’s standards. |
| A．Manufacturers’ developing a sustainable hardware economy. |
| B．Governments’ adjusting their green policies about e-waste. |
| C．Reducing customers’ demands for electronic products. |
| D．Manufacturers’ urging the government to make effective policies to ensure more profit. |
