1 . Greenhouse-gas emissions have produced the planet more than 1°C (1.8°F) warmer than it was in the pre-industrial days. Its atmosphere is producing heavy weather in ways both predicted and surprising. And, with emissions continuing, it will get worse.
Unfortunately, 2021 will probably be one of the 21st century’s coolest years. If temperatures rise by 3°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming decades — as they might even if everyone manages to honour today’s firm promises — large parts of the tropics risk becoming too hot for outdoor work. Coral reefs and the livelihood that depend on them will disappear and the Amazon rainforest will become a ghost of itself. Severe harvest failures will be commonplace. Ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland will shrink (缩小) past the point of no return, promising sea rises measured not in millimetres, as today’s are, but in metres.
Six years ago, in Paris, the countries of the world committed themselves to avoiding the worst of that nightmare by removing greenhouse-gas emissions quickly enough to hold the temperature rise below 2°C. Their progress towards that end remains seriously inadequate. Yet even if their efforts increased dramatically enough to meet the 2°C goal, it would not stop forests from burning today; prairies (草原) would still dry out tomorrow, rivers break their banks and mountain glaciers disappear.
Cutting emissions is thus not enough. The world also urgently needs to invest in adapting to the changing climate. The good news is that adaptation makes political sense. People can clearly see the need for it. When a country invests in flood defenses, it benefits its own citizens above all others — there is no free-rider problem, as there could be for emissions reduction. So All the governments should make a broader move to increase investment in adaptation. More such efforts are vital.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?A.The weather will become better in the future. |
B.The earth in the pre-industrial days was warmer. |
C.Bad weather is often caused by greenhouse gases. |
D.The appearance of bad weather is always expected. |
A.Crops will fail a little now and a little then. |
B.The melting ice will cause a sharp rise in sea level. |
C.People can still make a living by relying on coral reefs. |
D.It will be too hot for people to work outdoors all over the world. |
A.None of the investment money comes from the nation. |
B.The disasters would be avoided if the 2°C goal could be met. |
C.When a country invests in flood defenses, its own citizens benefits most. |
D.All the countries are trying to avoid the worst result by reducing the emission. |
A.To analyse the possibility of meeting the 2°C goal. |
B.To introduce a new method to study greenhouse-gas emissions. |
C.To assess the consequences of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. |
D.To call each country government to raise investment in adaptation. |
2 . Animals deserve to live a safe and healthy life as much as humans do.
Spread awareness. One way to protect endangered animals is to create awareness about them.
Drive carefully in forest areas. It is important to watch the road when you are going through roads in forest areas. Many animals die while trying to cross the road because people do not pay attention to them.
Avoid plastic items. Do you know what happens to a plastic bag thrown into a river?
A.Change your regular routine. |
B.So, we highly suggest careful use of water. |
C.Spend time rescuing animals in your locality. |
D.Sadly, this does not have universal acceptance. |
E.So we can save their lives by being more careful. |
F.It is probably eaten by an adult turtle, choking it to death. |
G.You can create local community groups that work for this cause. |
1. What is the speaker trying to do?
A.Introduce Earth Day. |
B.Organize a party. |
C.Promote a volunteer job. |
A.At West 36th Street & West River Parkway. |
B.At East 44th Street & West River Parkway. |
C.At East 45th Street & West River Parkway. |
A.Bring their own gloves. |
B.Bring their own lunch. |
C.Go there with a parent. |
4 . Latin America’s first renewable fuel-powered, trash-trapping wheel is cleaning one of Panama’s dirtiest rivers. A local environmental group led the effort.
The wheel is powered by water and sun energy. It pulls waste out of the Juan Diaz River. Most of the waste comes from the capital area of Panama City, where about 2 million people live. Thousands of kilograms of rubbish flow down the river into the ocean each year.
Robert Getman is the leader of the project. “Cleaning beaches is good,” he said, “but it is more effective and cheaper to trap rubbish in rivers because when it reaches the ocean, the environmental and economic cost becomes too high.”
The environmental group Marea Verde created the wheel, which is named Wanda Diaz, in late September. By the middle of October, Wanda had gathered 28. 6 cubic meters of plastic bottles from the water.
The Juan Diaz River is one of the most polluted in Panama. Waste systems in the area are poor, and land development is not well supervised. The river also passes through Panama City, one of Central America’s largest cities.
Over five years, Marea Verde projects have slowed the spread of rubbish along Panama’s rivers and coastline. Earlier, the group introduced its “Barrier or Trash”technology, a floating device. It caught more than 100 metric tons of waste in the Matias Hernandez River between 2019 and 2020.
“We want to raise awareness that we can prevent the death of this very important river,”said Marea Verde member Sandy Watemberg. She expressed her hope that the wheel will help. But she also pointed to the need for those who use single-use plastics to rethink their behavior. “The most important thing is to achieve a change in habits,” she said.
1. What makes the wheel the first of its kind?A.Its size. | B.Its power. | C.Its shape. | D.Its color. |
A.We’d better remove rubbish before it enters the sea. |
B.We should clean beaches so as not to pollute the sea. |
C.It’s cheap for humans to clean up the ocean. |
D.It’s better to leave waste in the sea than in the river. |
A.Supposed. | B.Protected. | C.Accepted. | D.Controlled. |
A.Support the project. | B.Use single-use plastics more. |
C.Change their habits. | D.Realize the danger the river is in. |
5 . To produce the classic clothing, blue jeans, producers rely on indigo dye (靛蓝染料), the only molecule known to provide jeans’ unique, beloved color. While indigo itself naturally comes from a plant, growing demand for blue jeans throughout the 20th century gave rise to synthetic (合成的) indigo, which is now more commonly used.
Indigo is the dye that makes jeans blue, but it doesn’t mix with water. To dye clothes, usually, chemicals are needed to make the color stick to the cloth. But in Denmark, scientists have created a new way to dye clothes using an enzyme (酶), which is a kind of protein that can cause chemical reactions, instead of harmful chemicals. This new method is better for the environment and doesn’t use poisonous stuff.
The chemical process for dyeing blue jeans has persisted for the last century. Workers are exposed to the poisonous chemicals, which also pollute the environment near factories. Waste water from those factories often ends up in waterways, decimating local ecosystems and even dyeing rivers blue.
Ditte Hededam Welner, the study’s lead researcher, says their new enzyme works really well and is strong enough for making lots of jeans without breaking down. This enzyme makes dyeing with indican, which is like indigo, much less harmful to the planet — about 92% better than the old way.
However, the new method doesn’t fix all the environmental problems of making jeans. Making a single pair of jeans uses a lot of water — enough to fill many bathtubs — from growing the cotton to putting the final touches on the jeans.
Even though the new dyeing process is better for the environment, it’s not always easy or cheap to change to it. Welner’s team isn’t sure if jeans companies will find it easy or affordable to switch to this method. It costs a little bit more — just seven cents extra per pair of jeans — to use the enzyme for dyeing. But Welner believes it’s worth it because it’s much better for the environment.
1. Why was synthetic indigo created in the 20th century?A.It made jeans’ color unique. | B.It was easy to dye cloth with it. |
C.People liked jeans made from it. | D.People were in greater need of jeans. |
A.Troubling. | B.Entering. | C.Destroying. | D.Defeating. |
A.The colour is more beautiful than the synthetic indigo. |
B.The market can keep stable goods supplies. |
C.Enzyme facilitates the advance of science. |
D.The dye is more environmentally friendly. |
A.Production costs. | B.Environmental benefits. |
C.Water consumption. | D.Laborer shortage. |
6 . Seth Magle is an urban ecologist in Chicago. In 2021, he started building a network of fellow urban animal lovers from around the world. They’re working to collect information so that it can be compared in different cities.
With the goal of trying to create more wildlife inclusive cities, the network helps reduce human wildlife conflict and increase human wildlife coexistence in the massively urbanizing areas.
In Chicago, Magle and his team have been watching their city’s wildlife for about 10 years. All together, they have over 100 camera traps set up across different types of urban environments from the downtown Loop and city parks to nature preserves and suburb golf courses.
During times of recent extreme heat, we do definitely see animals reduce movement and just stay where they are. It’s probably energetically difficult to move around when it’s so hot. Although this works for a short term in high temperature, it’s not ideal over a longer period because it means less time to search for food or a new mate.
As Magle and his network of urban researchers look toward the future and climate change, they predict bigger shifts. Temperatures everywhere are projected to warm, so wildlife in urban settings and beyond will likely have to shift their normal regions a bit further north to where it feels more comfortable and to what they’re already used to. We don’t have armadillos in Chicago, but we have them in the southern part of the state. And they seem to be migrating north.
Only time will tell how our urban wildlife reacts to these longer-term shifts in temperature.
For now, it sounds like urban animals — so long as they’re healthy — are totally capable of handling a few days of extreme heat here and there.
1. What is the aim of the network?A.To observe wildlife in different cities. | B.To compare animals’ living conditions. |
C.To collect information of urban animals. | D.To help human and wildlife coexist. |
A.The tracks of wildlife activities. | B.The movement of urban animals. |
C.The way of watching city animals. | D.The different types of urbanization. |
A.Keeping still. | B.Moving constantly. |
C.Shifting to the north. | D.Looking for food everywhere. |
A.A market report. | B.A science magazine. |
C.A biological textbook. | D.A social research report. |
7 . Coming upon a clear - cut in an old forest is a shocking experience. Tees large and small are collapsed one above the other in pile, and the ground is covered with the tracks of heavy machinery. Such was the scene when forest activist Zack Porter and I hiked a newly built logging (伐木) road in Green Mountain National Forest.
Clear - cutting in the American forests has long been widespread. But now, the Forest Habitat Creation Project represents new reasoning which is hotly debated - that clear - cutting benefits native creatures. The thinking is that clear - cutting done wisely can mimic natural disturbances, for example, from insect invasions or from storms overturning older trees that produce what ecologists call Early Successional Habitats - places where young trees and bushes get the upper hand and animals that depend on such habitat thrive.
The project also states that forests “can only be saved by being destroyed” - by keeping them young. Timber (木材) interests are enthusiastic about the approach because it lets them profit from cutting trees while claiming the significance of conservation. Hunting groups favor it because a younger, less thick forest makes it easier to find the game and birds they're tracking.
Nevertheless, Porter says, “Allowing some of the oldest standing trees in New England to be removed is equal to dereliction of duty on the part of the government, who sees the forests as commodities (商品).” “Forests can produce clean water, clean air, carbon storage, and biodiversity that we need,” he continues as we walk among lovely mixed hardwoods and evergreens that are cut down for logging. “We shouldn't be removing them for short - term gain.”
In this sense, Zack Porter's description of logging for wildlife for short - term gain - the short - term gain of favoring habitat for species people today want to see and hunt - is reasonable.
1. How does the author start the text?A.By presenting some ideas. | B.By listing some evidence. |
C.By comparing different views. | D.By stating his own experience. |
A.Profits can be made from logging. |
B.Clear - cutting is beneficial to the wildlife. |
C.The conservation of forest is of significance. |
D.Clear - cutting can cause natural disturbances. |
A.Fulfillment. | B.Promise. | C.Misconduct. | D.Exposure. |
A.A New Approach to Forest Protection |
B.A Hiking Experience in the Logging Road |
C.How to Build Early Successional Habitats? |
D.Is Clear - cutting Forests Good for Wildlife? |
An art exhibition on the theme of Nipponia Nippon was held in Shanghai as part of efforts to promote the harmony
Nipponia Nippon, or Zhuhuan in Chinese,
People from the three countries have deep affection for the bird, which
91. The Problem of Packaging
A large source of rubbish is packaging material. It often makes up more than 30 percent of the total. To understand why this is true, think of the packaging commonly used for a simple product, such as toothpaste. The packaging includes not only the tube for the toothpaste, but also the box for the tube. This box is put into a plastic wrapper. Then, the boxes are transported in a cardboard container.
Most packaging material ends up in a landfill after it is thrown away. Though necessary, landfills take up valuable space, often stink, and can leak harmful substances into the soil. Landfills not included, the production of packaging material itself is a major source of air and water pollution.
People are now trying to solve the problems caused by packaging materials. In 1991, Germany took the lead by requiring companies to recycle the packaging used for their goods. To do this, the companies set up recycling bins in every neighborhood. Consumers now separate their rubbish into three categories—metal, plastic and paper cartons. They then put it into the appropriate bin. The rubbish sorted, it is transported to recycling company for processing.
The programme worked well at first. However, the amount of rubbish has begun to increase again. One reason for this is that many consumers no longer reduce waste because they think the problem is solved. It seems that to properly deal with the problem of rubbish, everyone must remain alert and do their part.
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10 . For more than 100 million years sea turtles (海龟) have covered huge distances across the world’s oceans, making them among the oldest creatures on the planet. However, they are on the list of endangered species.
Different from some animals like snakes, the sex of the baby sea turtles, called hatchlings, is determined by the environment after fertilization (受精). The temperature of the eggs during a certain period of development is the deciding factor in determining sex, and small changes in temperature can cause very big changes in the sex ratio (比例). Often, eggs at low temperatures (22—27℃) produce males, while eggs at higher temperatures (30℃ and above) produce females. At temperatures in between, both sexes will be produced. If temperature reaches 36℃, no hatchlings will be produced.
Climate change has a powerful effect on turtle nesting (筑巢) sites. It changes sand temperatures, which then affects the sex of the hatchlings. Scientists have found that unusually warm temperatures caused by climate change are upsetting the normal ratios, resulting in fewer male hatchlings. The past four hottest summers in Florida have seen only female sea turtles. And an Australian study has shown a similar effect in which 99% of the hatchlings are female.
In addition to rising temperatures, turtles are also facing the threat of too much plastic in the oceans, along with a number of other threats. “Plastic pollution is a problem for turtles as they can mistake plastics for food easily. Even a single piece of plastic can kill a turtle,” Dr Couper, working at the Queensland Museum, said. “We have collected some plastics taken from turtles’ stomachs to show people what kinds of things are showing up on beaches. I want it to be an eye opener.”
1. Which temperature is good for a balanced sex ratio of turtle hatchlings?A.26℃. | B.29℃. | C.31℃. | D.36℃. |
A.Sea turtles will build their nesting sites elsewhere. |
B.Global warming is an extreme threat to sea turtles. |
C.Climate change is much more obvious in Australia. |
D.Over 90% of the turtle hatchlings are female globally. |
A.Turtles do not have enough food sources. |
B.Turtles do not have a good sense of smell. |
C.People should clean up beaches more often. |
D.People should raise environmental awareness. |