1 . On Friday, students around the world will walk out of their classrooms and gather in joint protests to highlight the global crisis created by climate change. The goal? To get elected officials and industry leaders to actually act to stop the coming disaster.
Climate change poses a terrible threat to humanity, and politicians aren’t doing enough to find solutions, protest organizers wrote on the Global Climate Strike website. Greenhouse gas emissions (排放) are a primary driver of global warming, but leaders have been irresolute about abandoning fossil fuels, even as global temperatures continue to climb.
Strikes and protests by students in more than 2,500 locations aim to show that the younger generations won’t stand easily by while their future — and their planet — hang in the balance. The strike follows a summer of extreme weather linked to climate change: strange global heat waves, wildfires and ice loss from glaciers (冰川). In July, three studies found that the global climate is changing more quickly than it has in the past 2,000 years.
Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is currently visiting New York City, is one of the strike’s key organizers. Thunberg will speak at a Friday demonstration at Foley Square there at 12 p. m. local time, after which protesters will march to Battery Park. Thunberg will also address the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23. The emergency meeting is being organized so that world leaders can present “concrete, realistic plans” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050, according to a UN statement.
Thousands of protests are planned for Friday — just three days prior to the summit—and collectively, they will be the biggest climate action in history.
1. Why will students gather together?| A．To make their voice heard by leaders. |
| B．To call on moves to protect the earth. |
| C．To celebrate the newly elected officials. |
| D．To organize a big protest for civil rights. |
| A．Hesitant. | B．Concerned. | C．Decisive. | D．Thoughtful. |
| A．Electing new leaders of the summit. |
| B．Reorganizing the UN department. |
| C．Reaching zero emissions by 2050. |
| D．Protecting the whole human beings. |
| A．Global Students Mobilize for Climate Action |
| B．Why Not Join the Students for a New Planet? |
| C．Organize a Climate Talk for the Only Earth |
| D．A New Strike Will Be Staged Worldwide |
2 . Indian scientists plan to add substances to clouds above the capital New Delhi in an effort to produce rain to reduce pollution. The method is called cloud seeding. The process involves adding different chemicals to clouds to cause rain. When rain falls from the sky, water droplets can attach to pollution particles and bring them down to the ground.
New Delhi has been rated the city with the most air pollution in the world. Air quality decreases in the city ahead of winter each year. During this time, cold air can trap many pollutants, including gases from vehicles, industry and agricultural burning.
Scientists expect some clouds over the city around November 20. They hope the clouds will result in heavy rainfall. The project, estimated to cost $120,000 for 100 square kilometers, would involve spraying into clouds a mix of salts that include silver iodine.
“The local government in New Delhi, a city of 20 million people, has already closed all schools and other educational institutions, asked people to work from home, restricted the movement of trucks and other vehicles and ceased all building activities”, said Gufran Beig, head of the Indian government’s air-quality measuring agency SAFAR, adding that “The city needs heavy and widespread rain to wash away the pollutants, and light rain could worsen the situation.”
New Delhi’s pollution has been exacerbated by more than 3,500 fires in Punjab and Haryana, where farmers burned stubble (秸秆) ahead of sowing their winter wheat crop. The smoke has been trapped tightly in the cold winter air, leaving the hospitals filled with children and the elderly.
It is reported that officials in New Delhi now are seeking approval for the project from the Supreme Court. In 2021, a plan to seed clouds over the mountains of New Mexico to increase snowfall was pulled because of the blame that it could poison people and the environment. As a matter of fact, several countries have used this method to produce rain, improve air quality and water crops in times of extreme dryness, including Mexico, the United States, Indonesia and Malaysia.
1. What do you know about cloud seeding?| A．A method to let rain fall down together with pollutants. |
| B．A method designed to generate rain or snow artificially. |
| C．A method created to absorb substances from clouds. |
| D．A method used to assess clouds’ quality and quantity. |
| A．Most schools have to break up their off line classes. |
| B．The roads are closed to trucks and other vehicles. |
| C．It is possible that a light rain will visit the city. |
| D．A huge pressure from an intense rain will work. |
| A．Worsened. | B．Considered. | C．Controlled. | D．Restored. |
| A．Cloud seeding has become popular in the world. |
| B．Cloud seeding is indeed a threat to living creatures. |
| C．Not all the nations and areas support cloud seeding. |
| D．It is the second time that India has seeded clouds. |
3 . The deep and dark night sky is filled with wonder. Looking up at the bright stars, mysterious planets and ancient constellations (星座) brings a timeless feeling. Today, populated areas around the globe are enveloped in a type of fog that disconnects people from that amazing night sky, but reducing light pollution can help to restore the wonder.
After the sun sets, cities and suburbs across the globe are lit up with artificial lights. They glow along roads and highways and flood fields in sports stadiums. They also shine light on skyscrapers, malls, and flashing electronic signs. However, these lights negatively impact wildlife.
Artificial lighting has caused the firefly population to completely disappear in some areas, while lighthouse beams (光线) negatively impact marine species. In fact, in the US and Canada, 18 species of firefly are now classified as being threatened with a high risk of extinction in the next ten years.
Just leaving that light on affects the behavior of nocturnal pollinators (夜间传粉者) like moths, causing them to fly towards the light and not the flowers. This, in turn, negatively affects plants’ abilities to bear fruit and reproduce.
Many people are aware of many types of pollution including air, water, and land, but few realize that strong artificial lighting is harmful to all mammals, including humans. In order to make people aware of the importance of darkness, researchers wrote a world atlas (地图册) of artificial night sky brightness, which is published in Science Advances. Their findings reveal that 80 percent of the world populations live under a sky glow, with more than 99 percent of Americans and Europeans living under light-polluted skies.
Although individuals cannot control the highway and city lights, they can make a difference at home. And if everyone were to “turn off the switch”, it could help to bring back natural darkness in some areas. Light areas where light is needed and aim the light beams downwards. Try to use low-level lighting and be aware that some surfaces reflect more light into the sky.
1. What does the author mainly want to say in paragraph 2?| A．Light pollution is actually widespread. |
| B．Artificial lights bring people convenience. |
| C．The use of artificial lights should be cut down. |
| D．The night sky is beautifully lit up with those lights. |
| A．The light has been too strong. | B．The pollinators destroy them. |
| C．They are not pollinated in time. | D．They don’t receive enough light. |
| A．To popularize artificial lighting. |
| B．To call off environmental protection. |
| C．To stress the civilizations of human beings. |
| D．To bring awareness to the meaning of darkness. |
| A．Turn off highway lights. | B．Use low-level lighting. |
| C．Let light beams upwards. | D．Design energy-efficient lights. |
4 . Every year, young, talented, and ambitious nature conservationists from all over the world participate in the presentation of the Future For Nature Award, an honorable international award.
The Future For Nature aims to:
• Reward and fund individuals for their outstanding efforts in wildlife protection.
• Encourage winners to sustain their dedicated work.
• Help winners to raise their profiles, extend their professional network and strengthen their funding basis.
Benefits
• The winners each receive 50,000 euros and may make their own decision to spend the money in the service of nature conservation.
• FFN offers the winners a platform and brings their stories to the attention of conservationists, financiers and a wide audience.
• FFN offers the opportunity to meet people with the same interest and continue to learn with each other.
Qualifications
The candidate:
• Must be born on or after the 31st May 1988 and before the 28th of August 2005.
• Is able to explain his/her conservation work in fluent English.
• Has achieved substantial and long-term benefits to the conservation status of one or more animal or plant species.
Additional Remarks
From all applications, 6 to 10 nominees will be selected for the 2025 Future For Nature Awards. These applicants will be asked to provide additional information, which will be used to select the final Awardees. Ultimately, three inspiring wildlife heroes are selected as the winners.
Application Process: Apply online through the Apply Now link.
Application Deadline: 28th August, 2024
1. What is the aim of the Future For Nature Award?| A．To raise funds for nature conservation projects. |
| B．To inspire conservation efforts of young talents. |
| C．To provide training opportunities for young conservationists. |
| D．To create a platform for conservationists to share their stories. |
| A．consult top specialists | B．benefit the local community |
| C．meet the like-minded people | D．promote self-created platforms |
| A．Meeting the age limit. | B．Applying via mail by the deadline. |
| C．Submitting the application in English. | D．Providing additional personal information. |
5 . The Ladakh region, the northernmost plateau of India, sits more than 3,000m above sea level. The tall Himalayan mountains stop the
A decade and a half ago, the Ladakhi land provided villagers with a
Despite that, there is
The engineer and a team of local people began looking for the best way of creating cones of ice. Eventually, they did it. Now named ice towers, they have gained
| A．heavy | B．cold | C．daily | D．annual |
| A．lost | B．bathed | C．trapped | D．hidden |
| A．virtually | B．eventually | C．frequently | D．accidentally |
| A．decreased | B．risen | C．occurred | D．escaped |
| A．limited | B．stable | C．unique | D．changeable |
| A．slow down | B．clean up | C．divide | D．feed |
| A．temperatures | B．snowfalls | C．fogs | D．rivers |
| A．surrounding | B．helping | C．leaving | D．equipping |
| A．hikers | B．farmers | C．engineers | D．businessmen |
| A．doubt | B．fear | C．peace | D．hope |
| A．remembered | B．searched | C．noticed | D．measured |
| A．Then | B．Besides | C．However | D．Instead |
| A．carry | B．produce | C．freeze | D．purify |
| A．lengthen | B．save | C．display | D．reduce |
| A．fame | B．strength | C．victory | D．popularity |
| A．The environment. | B．An activity. | C．A lifestyle. |
7 . 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 |
| A．By comparison. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By describing a process. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Staying home. | B．Reducing air pollution. | C．Enjoying fresh air. |
9 . When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list, fur probably didn’t cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion (时装)enthusiasts are trying to bring back the market for fur made from nutria(海狸鼠).
Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have showcased nutria fur made into clothes in different styles. “It sounds crazy to talk about guilt-free fur-unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast wetlands every year”, says Cree McCree, project director of Righteous Fur.
Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters $5 a tail. Some of the fur ends up in the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month.
Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild. “The ecosystem down there can’t handle this non-native species(物种).It’s destroying the environment. It’s them or us.” says Michael Massimi, an expert in this field.
The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades，but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s，the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.
Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana. He says it’s not easy to convince people that nutria fur is green, but he has no doubt about it. Hunters bring in more than 300,000 nutria tails a year, so part of Mouton’s job these days is trying to promote fur.
Then there’s Righteous Fur and its unusual fashion. Model Paige Morgan says，”To give people a guilt-free option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them-I think that’s going to be a massive thing, at least here in New York.” Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable. She is trying to come up with a label to attach to nutria fashions to show it is eco-friendly.
1. Why are scientists concerned about nutria?| A．Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously. |
| B．Nutria are an endangered species. |
| C．Nutria hurt local cat-sized animals. |
| D．Nutria are illegally hunted. |
| A．It’s formal. | B．It’s risky. | C．It’s harmful. | D．It’s traditional. |
10 . The world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago. A study published in the journal “Nature Sustainability” said that recent satellite data reveals a greening pattern that is strikingly prominent in China and India. The study shows that human activity in China and India dominates this greening of the planet, thanks to tree planting and agriculture. The effect comes mostly from ambitious tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.
“China and India account for one-third of the greening, ” said lead author Chi Chen of Boston University. “ That is a surprising finding, considering the vague idea of land degradation (毁坏) in populous countries from overexploitation, ” added Chen.
China alone accounts for 25 percent of the global net increase in leaf area with only 6.6 percent of global vegetated area. The greening in China is from forests (42 percent) and croplands (32 percent), but in India, it is mostly from croplands (82 percent) with minor contribution from forests (4.4 percent).
China’s outsized contribution to the global greening trend comes in large part from its programs to conserve and expand forests with the goal of preventing land degradation, air pollution, and climate change.
“Once people realize there is a problem, they tend to fix it,” said Rama Nemani, research scientist and co-author of the study. “In the 1970s and 80s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good. In the 1990s, people realized it, and today things have improved. Now we see that humans are contributing.”
Land area used to grow crops is comparable in China and India—more than 770, 000 square miles—and has not changed much since the early 2000s. Yet these regions have greatly increased both their annual total green leaf area and their food production.
This was achieved through multiple cropping practices, where a field is replanted to produce another harvest several times a year. Production of grains, vegetables, fruits and more have increased by about 35%～40% since 2000 to feed their large populations.
1. What did the study mainly find?| A．India and China are leading the global greening effort. |
| B．Intensive agriculture is the cause of global land degradation. |
| C．China and India has got the largest forest coverage in the world. |
| D．Agriculture is more helpful in expanding green areas than tree-planting. |
| A．India reduced cropland to prevent the overexploitation. |
| B．India increased forest by planting around croplands. |
| C．China changed more lands into forest by planting trees. |
| D．China controlled the increase of its population. |
| A．Ambitious. | B．Responsible. |
| C．Passionate . | D．Tolerant. |
| A．Forest. | B．Trees. |
| C．Cropland. | D．Food |
