1 . Solar farms offer one way to meet the world’s decarbonization targets, but they could also be used to deal with another of the planet’s big problems: loss of biodiversity. The approach is starting to take off. Residents of Barnsdale, for example, will soon play host to a new solar farm lined with grass field of wildflowers and native grasses, which Banks Group, the developer, says will promote pollinating insects.
The idea comes from the combination of two long-term trends: declining numbers of pollinating insects and the growing amount of land distributed to solar farms. According to the Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona, more than 40 percent of insect pollinators globally are listed as “highly threatened”—an issue that could seriously threaten food security. Meanwhile, solar-energy competence has been increasing. Matthew O’Neal, a scientist at Iowa State University, would like to see more solar developers seize this opportunity.
The benefits of such projects don’t stop at the insects. Research from Yale’s Center for Business and the Environment indicates that pollinator-friendly solar farms can raise crop output on nearby farmland, increase the recharging of groundwater and reduce soil erosion. In 2018, a US Department of Energy study found that if all existing and planned solar facilities near soybean and cranberry crops included pollinator home and increased output by just one percent, annual crop values could rise by US $1.75 million, US $4 million and US $233,000, respectively.
“Farmers could identify unprofitable areas, such as poor, highly erodible lands, as candidates for a pollinator-friendly solar farm. There’s the potential to increase their net income with pollinator motivation projects,” says O’Neal.
With enough forward thinking, these studies show, clean energy can provide new environmental opportunities. “We’re at a turning point with energy production and we’re seeing more opportunities to provide extra benefits that wouldn’t have been considered with older methods of energy generation,” says O’Neal. “You never heard of a coal mine planning pollinator conservation.”
1. What can be an additional function of solar farms according to paragraph 1?| A．Adding the amount of farmland. | B．Addressing the decline of biodiversity. |
| C．Improving the solar-energy competence. | D．Increasing the amount of profitable areas. |
| A．Reduce the size of their farms. |
| B．Live away from pollinator-friendly solar farms. |
| C．Grow their crops near areas rich in groundwater. |
| D．Make full use of soil erosion areas to make extra profits. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Conservative. | C．Skeptical. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Solar Power Is Starting to Take Off |
| B．Solar Energy Will Be in Urgent Need |
| C．Solar Farms Can Deal with the Loss of Biodiversity |
| D．Solar Farms Need to Expand the Amount of Farmland |
During the just-ended Spring Festival holiday, former fisherman Wang Chaosheng kept
Living in Sinan county in Southwest China’s Guizhou province,
Wujiang River
“I used to catch fish, and now I keep fish. I’m still doing my job,” Wang said.
3 . One man’s trash is another man’s treasure is absolutely the case in Turkey where garbage collectors started collecting books that have been thrown away and ended up opening a library.
It started when garbage man Durson Ipek found a bag of abandoned books when he was working and then it snowballed from there. Ipek and other garbage men started gathering the books they found on the streets that were ready for landfills (垃圾填埋地) and as their collection started to grow, so did word of mouth. Soon, local residents started donating books directly. The library was initially available only to the garbage employees and their families to use but as the collection grew, so did public interest and the library was opened to the public in 2017.
“On the one hand, there were those who were leaving these books on the streets. On the other hand, others were looking for these books,” Ankaya mayor Alper Tasdelen told CNN. “We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books. When everyone supported it, this project happened.”
All the books that are found are sorted and checked for condition. If they pass, they go on the shelves. Today, the library has over 6,000 books that range from fiction to nonfiction and there’s a very popular children’s section that even has a collection of comic books. An entire section is devoted to scientific research and there are also books available in English and French. The collection has grown so large that the library loans books to schools and educational programs.
“Village school teachers from all over Turkey are requesting books,” Tasdelen told CNN. The government has to hire a full-time employee to manage the library.
This library is incredibly popular. It is frequently filled with the children of the city’s workers and students from nearby schools. There is a waiting room set up for readers and chess boards for the people who visit the library. You can even enjoy a cup of tea in the waiting room.
1. What does the underlined word “snowballed” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Declined quickly. | B．Grew slowly. | C．Developed rapidly. | D．Worsened steadily. |
| A．Its great popularity. | B．Its potential significance. |
| C．Its huge collection of books. | D．Its wide variety of readers. |
| A．To raise people’s awareness of recycling. | B．To classify and check the donated books. |
| C．To expand the social influence of the library. | D．To meet the huge demand from rural teachers. |
| A．It’s an excellent place to enjoy tea. | B．It’s crowded with readers every day. |
| C．It needs to improve its management. | D．It provides a very considerate service. |
4 . 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 |
5 . There are few places on Earth that humans haven’t messed up. Now even Antarctica, the only continent with no permanent human inhabitants, is being altered by us. A study found that the increasing human presence in Antarctica is causing more snow melt-bad news for a frozen world already battling the effects of human-caused global warming.
Black carbon, the dark, dusty pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels has settled in locations where tourists and researchers spend a lot of time, scientists found. Even the smallest amount of the dark pollutant can have a significant impact on melting because of its very low reflectiveness: things that are light in color, like snow, reflect the sun's energy and stay cool; things that are dark, like black carbon, absorb the sun's energy and warm up.
“The snow albedo (反射率) effect is one of the largest uncertainties in regional and global climate modeling right now,” Alia Khan, a snow and ice scientist at Western Washington University, told CNN. “That’s one of the motivations for the study, to quantify the impact of black carbon on regional snowmelt, which is important for quantifying the role of black carbon in the global loss of snow and ice.”
“Antarctica is sitting there pretty much silently all year. But, if it weren’t there, in the state that it is meant to be, the balance that we have in the climate system will no longer be,” Marilyn Raphael, a geography professor said. “Antarctica’s sea ice is also important to maintain a balance in atmospheric circulation,” he added. As waters get warmer, some Antarctic creatures are finding their homes more and more unlivable.
“Everything we do has consequences,” Raphael said. “We need to educate ourselves about those consequences, especially in systems that we know relatively little about. We have to be careful that we don’t upset the climate balance.”
1. Why can the smallest amount of black carbon have huge impact on melting?| A．It is highly reflective. | B．Its dark colour absorbs heat. |
| C．It produces vast energy. | D．It causes much pollution. |
| A．To measure the impact of black carbon on melting. |
| B．To quantify the cost of battling against climate change. |
| C．To remove the uncertainties of global warming effects. |
| D．To urge people to pay more attention to melting problem. |
| A．The change caused by Antarctic melting. | B．The methods to stop Antarctic ice melting. |
| C．The significance of Antarctic being in its state. | D．The sufferings Antarctic creatures are experiencing. |
| A．Reduce tourist numbers. | B．Face the consequences. |
| C．Acquire professional education. | D．Stop disturbing the climate. |
6 . Should We Create More National Parks to Save Endangered Animals?
Don’t you find it worrying that more and more species of animals are in real danger of becoming extinct?
In addition, national parks protect animals from the danger of being hunted. A major reason why many species are endangered is that these animals are killed by hunters. They hunt animals to make money.
On the other hand, some people fight against the creation of national parks because they consider it is wrong to interfere with nature. They believe that wild animals are happier living in their natural environment.
All in all, these disadvantages are far less important than the benefits of national parks.
| A．To begin with, animals are important to humans. |
| B．Some hunters even hunt animals simply for sport. |
| C．I personally believe that we must save these animals. |
| D．These parks allow animals to live in a safe environment. |
| E．Firstly, national parks protect these animals’ natural environment. |
| F．They say though the animals may face danger, they enjoy a free life. |
| G．There is a heated discussion about whether to create more national parks. |
7 . 
Endangered Species Youth Art Contest
2023 Contest Now Open!
Join us for our 6th annual Endangered Species Youth Art Contest! In celebration of Endangered Species Day (May 19, 2023), Roger Williams Park Zoo is accepting art entries from local K-12 grade students in the New England area showing threatened and endangered species. Together we hope to raise awareness about the importance of saving endangered species and their wild habitats.
Winners will be formally announced by May 2023.
Rules & Art Submission Instructions:
▲All entries are to be submitted electronically. Web form will be made available beginning February 1,2023.
▲Students’ artworks must be original. Computer-produced images will NOTbe judged.
▲All artworks must be about threatened/endangered species.
▲Each art entry must also include a short explanation (3-5 sentences) as to why saving your chosen species from extinction is important.
Deadline: Entries must be received by Sunday, April 2,2023. Late entries will not be judged.
2023 Art Contest Prizes
GRAND PRIZE(Judges Choice)
▲One Family RWPZoo membership (a S149 value; or extra year added to current Zoo membership)
▲An adopt-an-animal package of your choice
▲One $100 gift card
GRADE CATEGORY WINNERS (Grades K-2, Grades 3-12)
Each grade-winner shall receive:
★Six General daytime admission tickets to RWPZoo
★One $25 gift card
HONORABLE MENTIONS (Grades K-2,Grades 3-12)
Each grade-honorable mention shall receive:
·Four General daytime admission tickets to RWPZoo
·An award certificate
All winning artworks will be highlighted on the Zoo’s website and social media pages, and in the Zoo’s summer WILD Magazine issue.
1. How can you submit your artwork?| A．By sending it in an envelope. |
| B．By turning it in on the website. |
| C．By handing it to the zoo in person. |
| D．By having it delivered to the judges. |
| A．The habitats of threatened and endangered species. |
| B．The relationship between humans and endangered species. |
| C．The measures to protect endangered species. |
| D．The reason of protecting your targeted species. |
| A．A choice to adopt an animal. |
| B．A S25 worth of gift card to the zoo. |
| C．An exhibition of the artwork all year round. |
| D．Six tickets to RWPZoo for general daily time admission. |
8 . Don’t call Madison Stewart an environmentalist. She sees herself simply as an individual taking action in defense of something she loves that’s in need of protection.
Despite her youth, the 24-year-old is an undersea veteran (老手). She grew up sailing around the Great Barrier Reef on her parents’ boat and spent her early life free diving while patiently waiting for the day when she could get her scuba diving (水肺潜水) certification, aged 12. Already impressed by sharks, Madison was now pleased to be able to observe them in their own world. “I got to know the sharks...I could recognize them by sight,” Madison says. “Other people had dogs around them growing up. I had sharks.”
But within a couple of years, she saw a great reduction in shark numbers on the reef. “One day I went in the water and couldn’t find my sharks anywhere, sharks I’d spent my childhood with,” she says. “They’d been caught and killed.” It was a great moment for Madison.
She left school at 14 to be homeschooled so she could spend more time in the ocean. She taught herself to shoot underwater video to document sharks in their own world and share her sense of wonder with others. She launched a YouTube channel and built a huge following for her documentaries where she focuses on issues like inadequate protection for some shark species and the global shark fin (鳍) industry.
In 2014 Madison was the subject of the encouraging documentary Shark Girl, which introduced her to a global audience. In 2017 she appeared as an “Ocean Guardian” in the documentary Blue that explored a lot of threats to the world’s marine environments, including the damaging effect of the global shark fishery. The film encourages viewers to get involved and includes practical steps to guide them to do so. It shows Madison’s philosophy that the power of the individual to make a difference by their own direct action should never be underestimated.
1. What did Madison do before getting her scuba diving certification?| A．She went sailing often. | B．She went boating alone. |
| C．She practised free diving. | D．She protected the Great Barrier Reef. |
| A．To record sharks’ world of wonder. | B．To popularize her photography works. |
| C．To raise awareness of shark conservation. | D．To spare more time to accompany sharks. |
| A．Many hands make light work. | B．Action speaks louder than words. |
| C．Together we can make a difference. | D．Personal influence can’t be ignored. |
| A．To introduce an influential conservationist. |
| B．To advertise some encouraging documentaries. |
| C．To inspire people to protect whatever they love. |
| D．To inform people how to preserve marine wildlife. |
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.
Maggie and Alex live in a tall building in a neighborhood in the center of the city. There are no trees near their building, but they are happy in their home and it is close to their jobs.
In the part of the city where they live, there is not much fresh food to buy. The stores only have processed foods in packages. Maggie and Alex and all the other people in the building have to eat food that they buy in boxes and plastic containers.
This makes so much garbage that no one knows where to put it. While they wait for Fridays, when the city collects the garbage, all the neighbors put their trash into bags and sometimes leave it in the hallway or on the big, sunny roof. The whole building looks terrible. No one can spend time playing on the roof because it is full of trash.
One day, Maggie and Alex decide to make a change. They go up to the roof and separate all the recycla-ble garbage, like cardboard, plastic bottles, glass, and aluminum cans. Then they take all of the garbage down to the street for the garbage collectors.
But they do not carry down the plastic bottles! They cut off the tops and use them as pots to plant tomatoes and carrots. They plant herbs, too.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
Maggie and Alex tell their neighbors about their project.
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Paragraph 2:
Now the roof looks beautiful like a garden.
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