2 . A record surge in the creation of marine protected areas has taken the international community close to its goal of creating nature refuges on 17% of the world’s land and 10% of seas by 2020, according to a new UN report. Protected region snow cover more than five times the territory of the US, but the authors said this good news was often undermined by poor enforcement. Some reserves are little more than “paper parks” with little value to nature conservation. Atleast one has been turned into an industrial zone. More than 27m square kilometres of seas (7% of the total) and 20m sq km of land (15% of the total) now have protected status, according to the Protected Planet report, which was released on Sunday at the UN biodiversity conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Almost all of the growth has been in marine regions, most notably with the creation last year of the world’s biggest protected area: the 2m sq km Ross Sea reserve, one-fifth of which is in the Antarctic. The no-fishing zone will be managed by New Zealand and the US.

“We have seen an enormous expansion in the past two years. There is now more marine protected area than terrestrial, which nobody would have predicted,” said Kathy McKinnon of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “I think we’ll continue to see a substantial increase, I’d guess, to at least 10% in the near future.”

The UN convention on biological diversity says it has received national commitments for an additional 4.5m sq km of land and 16m sq km of oceans to be given protected status in the next two years. This would put it on course to achieve one of the key aims of the 2010 Aichi biodiversity targets.

“This is the target with the most progress. In an ocean of bad news about biodiversity loss and eco-destruction, it is important to highlight that progress, though we still have a lot more to do to ensure not just the quantitive target but the effectiveness of the management,” said CristianaPașca Palmer, the head of UN Biodiversity.

The creation of protected areas has not been enough to halt a collapse of species and ecosystems that threatens civilisation. Since 1970 humanity has wiped out 60% of mammal, bird, fish and reptile populations, with a dangerous knock-on impact on food production, fisheries and climate stability.

Protected areas are important refuges from this wave of extinctions but many are underfunded and poorly policed. Only one in five have provided management assessments to the UN, which has raised questions about the viability of the rest.

Naomi Kingston, of UN environment world conservation monitoring centre, said: “There is a race to deliver on Aichi target 11. It is fantastic that countries are coming with more ambition, but not if it is just a number without substance.

“Some areas that have been reported to us as protected areas have been completely built over. We need datasets to define which areas are paper parks and which are real.”

Developing nations have better reporting standards because many are obliged to provide regular assessments in order to qualify for funds from the Global Environment Fund. By contrast, many wealthier nations devote few resources to monitoring.

Discussions will focus on a new, more flexible category for community land that is used by locals for both agricultural production and wildlife conservation. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, this is a model that has often helped improve biodiversity because residents — often from indigenous communities — live closely with nature and have an interest in protecting it.

1. What promotes the achievement of the goals of marine nature reserves?

A．Poor management of marine protected areas.

B．Loss of biodiversity and ecological destruction.

C．Rapid growth in the number of marine protected areas.

D．Commitments in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

2. What impact does the establishment of “paper parks”have on protected areas?

A．They have promoted the expansion of marine protected areas.

B．They have little value for nature conservation.

C．They all turn into industrial zones.

D．They will slow down the collapse of ecosystems.

3. According to the passage, what is Kathy McKinnon’s point of view?

A．NewZealand and the United States regulate fishing-ban zones.

B．In the near future, the number of marine refuges will increase by at least 10%.

C．The quantity and management quality of marine refuges are equally important.

D．Many countries have ambitions to achieve Aichi 11.

4. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．A recorded surge in the creation of marine protected areas.

B．Developing countries may receive funding from the Global Environment Facility.

C．The Increase of marine refuges and the views of relevant personnel.

D．Achieving Aichi 11 Goal.

3 . A new study found some primates (灵长类) are leaving their tree homes and spending more time on the ground. Led by Timothy Eppley, Ph.D., scientists studied nearly 50 species of monkeys and lemurs (狐猴) to look at the reason behind these changes.

About 15 years ago, Eppley worked with southern bamboo lemurs, which were known to spend most of their days in the trees, feeding on bamboo leaves. However, he was surprised to find these lemurs were spending most time on the ground and had an incredibly diverse diet. He wondered whether habitat reduction and limited food resource availability were driving them move to the ground. This inspired him to begin this study.

He reached out to every researcher he could find who may have significant data on primates from Madagascar or the Americas, the two places with almost all tree-dwelling primates.

Eppley examined more than 150,000 hours of data observed on 32 monkey species and 15 lemur species at 68 sites. He found that they spent an average of only 2.5% of their time on the ground each month. But the findings showed some interesting differences.

“As habitats are degraded and the climate worsens, primates that are flexible enough to adapt because of their diverse diets or live in larger groups may be more likely to shift to life on the ground,” Eppley says. “However, other species that rely on fruit diets or live in small groups are less adaptable and are less willing to leave the tree. For these species, we will still need to enforce fast and effective conservation strategies to ensure their survival.”

Although moving to the ground has some advantages in certain situations, primates can face problems when they leave the trees. They can become victims of other animals and diseases. Besides, they will be faced with finding appropriate food resources on the ground, thus having a broad or flexible diet is important. Primates are important seed spreaders within their forest habitats. The loss of primates would lead to negative effects on the ecosystem.

1. Why did Timothy Eppley begin his study?

A．To try to make primates more adaptive.

B．To study how monkeys differ from lemurs.

C．To figure out the reason for the loss of bamboo.

D．To find out why primates are turning to the ground.

2. How did Timothy Eppley carry out his research?

A．By doing experiments.	B．By observing in the wild.
C．By studying collected data.	D．By interviewing the locals.

3. Which kind of primates are more likely to come down from trees?

A．Those eating diverse diets.	B．Those with a large size.
C．Those feeding mainly an fruits.	D．Those living in small groups.

4. What will become a concern according to the study?

A．Animals will become less adaptive.	B．The forest ecosystem will become worse.
C．More natural habitats will be lost.	D．More animal-related diseases will appear.

4 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the largest dustbin for?

A．Paper products.

B．Glass.

C．Plastic.

2. What is the man’s attitude towards recycling?

A．It’s hard to put into practice.

B．It means more work for homeowners.

C．It’s the responsibility of all citizens.

3. What will the speakers do next?

A．Write a shopping list.

B．Deal with the old leaves.

C．Meet with other homeowners.

5 . Every year, an average American produces more than 250 pounds of plastic waste. Recycling is part of the solution, but many of us are confused about what can be recycled and what can’t.

Plastic film

At the store we find it covering vegetables, meats and cheeses. It’s common, but it can’t be recycled because it’s hard to deal with at the MRF (材料回收厂). The thin and soft film gets stuck around the equipment and can bring it to a stop.

Plastic bags

Plastic bags — like those used for bread, sandwich as well as grocery bags — create similar problems for recycling machines as thin plastic film. Therefore, most of the plastic bags end up in landfills and oceans.

Yogurt and butter cups

These containers often mix with other kinds of materials. It’s not possible to separate them. In addition, this type of packaging flattens out on the MRF’s conveying belt and can bring the equipment to a stop, too.

Beverage (饮料) bottles

These containers are firm. They don’t flatten out like yogurt cups and they’re made from one kind of plastic that recyclers can easily sell for making products such as carpet, clothing or even more plastic bottles.

Warning: Be aware that we cannot recycle as much as we want. For example, plastic bottles are a highly desirable product for recyclers, but just about a third finds their way into the MRFs. Therefore, it’s more important for us to reduce packaging.

1. What do the first two kinds of packaging have in common?

A．They are used for the same products.	B．They are mixed with other materials
C．They are too thin and soft to be recycled.	D．They are usually recycled in special MRFs.

2. Which can be recycled easily?

A．Plastic film.

B．Beverage bottles.

C．Plastic bags.

D．Yogurt and butter cups.

3. What does the author hope us to do in the last paragraph?

A．Reduce packaging.	B．Try to build more MRFs.
C．Use recyclable bags.	D．Separate the waste properly.

7 . 请以“Change begins with you”为题目写一篇呼吁保护野生动物的演讲稿，内容如下：
⑴ 演讲目的；
⑵ 保护野生动物的原因；
⑶ 保护野生动物的建议；
⑷ 再次呼吁保护野生动物。
注意：词数在100左右，可以适当增加细节。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Recycling is good for our planet, but it can be confusing. Can I recycle plastic bags? What about pizza cartons? Toothpaste tubes? Which bin should I use? There are so many questions, and more than half of Americans are unsure about how to recycle.     1     Here’s a handy four-step guide on how to recycle effectively:

Know what to put in the recycling bin. Keep it simple and focus on the most commonly recycled items, such as paper, glass, aluminum and plastic.     2     Don’t use the recycled symbol as a guide. “The number on the container is really for people to identify the type of resin (树脂). That’s not helpful for the common consumer,” said Cody Marshall, a strategist at nonprofit Recycling Partnership.

    3     It is really important to know what you cannot put in your bin. You can always check with your city or at BeRecycled.org. If you live in the US, just plug in your postcode to search. Recycling companies struggle with the same problem items: hoses (软管), cords, needles and clothing, according to Marshall, so don’t put those items in your bin.

Wash or clean items. Do a quick clean to make sure there is no food left in containers before you put them in the bin.     4     Save food for composting (堆肥) in your garden.

Don’t bag it. Unless you live in a place that requires it, like New York City, keep the recyclables lost in the bin. “A lot of the time, it’s not safe for our employees to tear those bags open, or it takes too much time,” said Keller. “    5    ”

A．Know what is not recyclable.

B．The answers are not hard to find.

C．A lot of bagged stuff goes right to the landfill.

D．Plastic bags can be used again or returned to grocery stores.

E．If you really don’t know if an item is recyclable, then just throw it in the garbage.

F．This is really important if you only use one bin because food items could ruin paper.

G．Hard plastics like water and soft drink bottles or anything like these can be recycled.

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

World Water Day,     1     (hold)on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater. World Water Day celebrates water and     2     (raise)awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about     3     (take)action to handle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.