1 . Downing the last drop of an expensive famous brand H₂O as well as remembering to throw the empty bottle in the recycling bin, makes you feel pretty good about yourself, right? It shouldn’t. Even when the bottles are recycled, there are all kinds of other consequences of swallowing bottled water, says Melissa Peffers, the air-quality program manager for Environmental Defense.

The containers are often filled in faraway lands, then shipped from abroad, and stored in refrigerators at your local store. Compare that with the influence on environment of turning on your tap, filling a glass, and drinking up!

Anyone who is choosing bottled water for health reasons is misguided, says Peffers, “Most bottled water is just tap water.” And what comes out of your tap is carefully monitored to follow the strict rules. Consider another fact that bottled water is surprisingly expensive, especially when compared with the alternative, which is almost free, and it is astonishing that America’s desire for bottled water seems impossible to satisfy, reaching nearly 30 billion bottles a year.

“My parents’ generation never had bottled water,” says Isabelle Silverman, an Environmental Defense legal adviser. She has made a commitment to going bottle free. “You don’t need to fetch it home from the store, and it’s cheaper,” she adds.

Bottled water’s role as a status symbol needs to change, Peffers points out. So when a waiter at an expensive restaurant offers “And what’s your drink?” that’s no reason to forget your conviction(信念). “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I’ll have tap.’ Say it loud enough that the other tables nearby can hear you,” Peffers says. “And then spend that money on a dessert.”

1. In the first paragraph, the underlined sentence “It shouldn’t.” suggest that people _______.

A．shouldn’t feel pleased with finishing the water in the bottle

B．shouldn’t feel good about drinking an expensive brand H2O

C．shouldn’t be content with just recycling empty bottles

D．shouldn’t be satisfied with drinking only bottled water

2. According to the author, tap water is _______.

A．as safe as bottled water

B．morel likely to be polluted

C．healthier than bottle water

D．less convenient than bottled water

3. The underlined part “going bottle free” (in Para. 4) means “_______”.

A．making bottled water free

B．abandoning bottled water

C．recycling use water bottles

D．providing free water containers

4. Why does Peffers ask people to say “I’ll have tap.” loudly?

A．To encourage them to set an example for others to follow.

B．To advise them to save the money for one more dessert.

C．To remind them to be aware of their social status.

D．To persuade them to speak confidently in public.

2 . Do you know anyone who plays Ant Forest? It is a game on Alipay. Users collect “energy “ for their “trees” to grow. When their “tree” finishes growing, Alipay will plant a real tree in the desert areas of China.

This is part of China’s efforts to fight desertification . Since 1978, China has planted over 66 billion trees across its dry northern areas, according to China Daily.

Desertification means there are no trees or grass. Water can’t stay in the soil and sand is everywhere.

About 2.6 million square kilometers of China’s land is covered with sand. That’s about 27 percent of the country’s land. It has also caused sandstorms .

By planting new trees, sandstorms in China have been cut by 20 percent in recent years. About 13,000 square kilometers of land have become oases (绿洲).

Ian Teh, a British photographer , traveled through northern China last year. He saw many new oases.

“It was hard to imagine that it was ever a desert,” he told Wired magazine.

1. What is Ant Forest?

A．It is an app that lets people buy things.

B．It is a game that can help fight desertification.

C．It is a forest for people to grow trees in.

D．It is a name for a group of special ants.

2. What has China done to fight desertification in the past 40 years?

A．Planted billions of trees.	B．Built houses in dry northern areas.
C．Moved all the sand to one place.	D．Built oases around cities.

3. Planting new trees has helped China cut down sandstorms by .

A．2.6 percent

B．27 percent

C．20 percent

D．66 percent

4. How did Ian Teh like northern China after his visit last year?

A．It was hard to travel in the desert.	B．It was amazing to see new oases there.
C．It was still full of sand.	D．It was not easy to find any trees in the north.

3 . What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A．Health.

B．Education.

C．Environment.

4 . Four Wild Animal Species Were Endangered

Maybe you can still see them at the zoo. But that doesn’t mean they’re doing alright in the wild.

Tigers

All six tiger species are endangered, with Sumatran tigers and South Chin tigers at a seriously endangered status. The main reasons for their population decline are illegal hunting and destroyed habitats(栖息地), as humans clear forests to gather timber（木材）and build roadways. Only about 3890 tigers presently live in the wild.

Ground squirrels

That’s right, even squirrels are endangered, specifically the San Joaquin ground squirrel. Native to California, USA, these guys have been disappearing since 1979 on account of the construction and human developments going through their habitat. Their total population is unknown , but it could be anywhere between 124000 and 413000.

Giraffes

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature recently put giraffes at a vulnerable status, the level just before endangered. The giraffe population has declined 40 percent in the last 30 years, primarily due to loss of habitat and illegal hunting. Some giraffes are killed just for their tails, which are considered status symbols in Africa.

Asian elephants

The main threat to Asian elephants, one of the most intelligent animals, is their shrinking habitat. As the human population grows, people invade their land to build roads and railway tracks. Elephants in Myanmar are at an especially high risk for being captured and traded or used illegally in the tourist industry. Fewer than 50000 are left on the entire continent.

1. What is the total population of tigers living in the wild?

A．Around 3890.

B．50000.

C．124000.

D．413000.

2. Which of the following is considered one of the most intelligent animals?

A．Tigers.

B．Giraffes.

C．Ground squirrels.

D．Asian elephants.

3. What is the common threat to the four wild animals?

A．Illegal hunting.

B．Disturbed habitat.

C．Developing tourism.

D．Unnecessary construction.

4. Which word can best describe the present situation for protecting wild animals?

A．Satisfactory.

B．Optimistic.

C．Urgent.

D．Stable.

5 . With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save these in a dangerous situation. That's a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called "Noah's Ark".
Noah's Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of these animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M's College of Veterinary, Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will probably become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years. This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal. The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete. "The nuclear transfer of one species to another is not easy, but the lack of available panda eggs could be a major problem," Kraemer believes. "They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it's difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort," adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A&M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
"They are trying to do something that's never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah's Ark. We're both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there's a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. The cooperation between us is very much needed."
1. The final aim of "Noah's Ark" project is to ___________.

A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

B．save endangered animals from dying out

C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study

D．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

2. According to Professor Kraemer, ___________.

A．the long time lasting cloning research could be successful.

B．the eggs transfers immediately result in having a baby.

C．the lack of nuclear transfer could be a major problem to have new pandas.

D．if species should die out, basic building blocks would heal them.

3. The best title for the passage may be ________.

A．China's Success in Pandas Cloning

B．Helping Ways to Avoid Extinction

C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

D．The Practice in Noah's Ark

4. From passage we know that ________.

A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a panda

B．scientists try to implant a panda's egg into a rabbit

C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

D．about two thousand species are to die out in a century

6 . A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.

Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.

In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc(锌)an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.

The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.

One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.

Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.

The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.

1. Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?

A．China

B．Myanmar

C．America

D．Britain

2. How is Paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By comparison.	B．By giving examples.
C．By analyzing causes.	D．By describing a process.

3. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Climate change will be difficult to predict.

B．Climate change will lead to more good effects.

C．Climate change will be harmful to environment.

D．Climate change will cause more unexpected problems.

4. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health.

B．The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most.

C．The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment.

D．Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent.

7 . The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow-moving river 80 kilometres wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a “river of grass” because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes—and skin!
Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So, we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat, open boat. Like an airplane, it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a tremendous noise, but it does the job. The boat skims along the water’s surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat, at least we are above the alligators(短吻鳄).
While hundreds of different kinds of animals live in the Everglades, the most famous is surely the alligator. Once endangered, alligators are now protected within Everglades National Park. Visitors are likely to see them both on land and in water.
For a long time, dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900, some people felt this precious wetland should be drained (排干). They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s, there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere, including in the Everglades. They built canals, levees (防洪堤), and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories dumped poisonous waste that damaged the Everglades ecosystem.
People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now, one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.
Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s, people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However, the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the Everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these invaders or spraying them with herbicides (除草剂) to kill them.
1. Which helps to explain why it is difficult to travel in Everglades?

A．Airboats may make a very big noise.

B．You may get lost when passing through.

C．Paperbark trees soak up too much water there.

D．Many different kinds of animals are to be protected.

2. Why do people use airboats instead of normal boats?

A．They have big propellers to move them faster than alligators.

B．The propeller makes loud noise so as to scare alligators.

C．Their flat bottom can skim along the water surface.

D．They can watch alligators without hurting them.

3. The following measures were taken to drain the Everglades except that people______.

A．built canals and levees to stop the rivers flowing into Everglades

B．built factories near rivers that flowed into the wetland

C．brought Paperbark to soak up water in Everglades

D．are cutting down these Paperbark trees

4. The underlined word "invader" probably means something______.

A．that moves in from another place

B．that enters and takes control

C．that has been brought in

D．that is in danger

8 . Every year, Americans send millions of tons of food to the landfill (垃圾填埋地). What if you could use all of those rotten vegetables to heat your home? That’s happening in one unlikely laboratory: the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plan in Brooklyn
The plant’s longtime manager, Jimmy Pynn, shows off the plant’s crown jewels: eight huge, shiny, oval-shaped steel tanks known as digester eggs. Each one contains millions of gallons of black material that’s roughly pea soup. Pynn calls it “black gold”. “The digesters like to be fed like us: three times a day,” he says. “They like to be kept warm, 98 degrees. And that’s what we have these guys for: to make methane(甲烷)，which can be used to heat homes or make electricity.”
Right now, what these bacteria are digesting is mostly sewage(污水) mud. But they are being introduced to a new diet food scraps. The hope is that this plant will soon take in hundreds of tons of organic waste from houses and apartments.
“Cardboard packaging, rotten tomatoes, fats, oils, old diary products--those are all great food-stuff for a digester,” says Paul Sellew. “My micro-organisms love that. That’s their five-course meal.”
“Everything in New York City is like big scale when you’re talking about quantities of waste,” says Samantha MacBride. “Right now, it’s all in its infancy. When you’re in an apartment building, to separate out food scraps, it requires a lot of effort and attention,” says MacBride. “It doesn’t have to have unpleasant smell or be inconvenient. But it takes extra work. It’s the first, what I will call the baby step,” says Paul Sellew. “Because ultimately in New York City, just the restaurants alone, you’re talking well over a million tons a year,” he says.
This new industry is trying to build more plants and digesters to handle all of that waste, says Sellew. The costliest part may be finding good locations in or around the nation’s biggest cities.
As for the trillions of bacteria? They’ll work for free--- as long as you feed them.
1. What role are the digester eggs expected to play?

A．To get black gold from daily waste.

B．To produce new diet for humans.

C．To change food scraps into gas.

D．To make crown jewels.

2. According to MacBride, what’s the problem for New York City?

A．Its rapid development causes environmental problems.

B．Its system of separate out food scraps is complex.

C．It fails to pay enough attention to recycling.

D．It has too much amount of waste.

3. What might be the biggest difficulty to build more plants?

A．To get enough organic waste as materials.

B．To find good places for the factories.

C．To grow trillions of bacteria for free.

D．To have money to build digesters.

4. The tone of the last sentence is________.

A．humorous	B．suggestive
C．regretful	D．curious