1 . When floods completely destroyed Bangkok more than a decade ago, Thai landscape architect, Kotchakorn Voraakhom became determined to help her sinking hometown fight this deadly climate threat. “The floods changed my life,” said Voraakhom, who studied at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. “It was the turning point, when I started using the tools of landscape architecture to cope with climate change.”
Voraakhom’s fantastic projects in Bangkok include a park that can hold up to one million gallons of water, Asia’s largest rooftop farm, an elevated walkway installed on a bridge and a lush (草木繁茂的) canal park in the city center.
One of Voraakhom’s most innovative designs is Centenary Park in Chulalongkorn University. The park stores large amounts of rainwater and prevents the surrounding streets from flooding. Built on an incline (斜坡), it directs runoff water through inclined gardens and artificial wetlands. From there, water flows into a retention pond (澄清的) with a capacity of nearly 480,000 gallons. Beneath the soil is an additional water tank which can hold nearly 160,000 gallons. The entire park can store up to one million gallons of water.
Voraakhom also created Asia’s largest rooftop farm, Siam Green Sky, transforming 22,400 square meters (241,000 square feet) into a lush field. The farm, which recycles food waste from restaurants in the building below and uses it as plant fertilizer (肥料), also slows down, soaks up and stores large amounts of rainwater. It is then used to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit, as well as rice.
The architect said she integrates nature and water into her designs to create landscapes that help alleviate flooding and add greenery to densely populated cities. The central question sinking cities like Bangkok need to focus on is: “how are we going to live with the water, without fear?” said Voraakhom. This idea of “living with the water” lies at the heart of her design approach.
1. What did Kotchakorn focus on to cope with flooding?| A．Green coverage. | B．Soil conservation. |
| C．Architecture design. | D．Alternative resources. |
| A．Centenary Park. | B．Siam Green Sky. |
| C．An elevated walkway. | D．Chulalongkorn University. |
| A．Make less severe. | B．Get better. |
| C．Adapt itself to. | D．Take in. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. | C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
2 . In a groundbreaking project, China First Metallurgical Group has completed its first overseas waste-to-energy plant in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The largest waste incineration (焚化) power plant in Vietnam has not only revolutionized waste management in the country but has also involved the training of local workers. The plant has addressed the city’s growing waste problem by processing 4,000 metric tons of urban waste every day, about 60 percent of the city’s daily waste, the group said. The technology in the facility not only converts waste into green energy but also ensures environmentally friendly treatment.
Hu Changbing, manager of the group’s Vietnam branch, said, “The plant is an achievement of the cooperation between China and Vietnam. It is a green project that benefits local residents.” Since the first unit started generating electricity in July, 2022, the plant has been operating well, Hu said.
The project was built on the former site of Hanoi's waste treatment center, where the majority of the city’s waste was previously buried in landfill. In addition to generating clean energy through incineration, the plant also produces environmentally friendly bricks from the residue (残渣). The emitted gases and wastewater are treated to meet European Union emission standards and achieve drinking-water quality. Covering an area of 170,000 square meters, the plant consists of waste storage pools, incinerators, treatment and processing plants, and waste gas treatment facilities.
Recalling the start of the project, Hu said to gain the trust of local residents, his group set up a dedicated team of Chinese and Vietnamese personnel to explain the benefits of the project and take on local people. Vietnam lacked experience in waste incineration power plant construction. The Chinese team has set a bench mark (标杆) for the local industry and left behind valuable technical knowledge, Hu said. During the peak of construction, over 80 percent of the 2,000 workers employed were locals. “The local workers proved to be intelligent and diligent. They learn skills quickly,” Hu said.
In 2021, Hu took over the management of the Vietnam project. Hu, a native of Yichang city, Hubei province, has been working with the group for 23 years since graduating from Hubei University of Technology with a degree in civil engineering. Chinese masters led groups of Vietnamese workers, teaching them skills and safety regulations, and assessing their qualifications before allowing them to work.
This success has also inspired the construction of multiple waste incineration power plants in Vietnam, with many workers having gained their skills and experience from the project, he added. The project was carried out under the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and was aimed at contributing to the sustainable development of the Vietnamese capital.
1. How many metric tons of urban waste are produced daily in Hanoi?| A．About 4,000 metric tons. | B．About 5600 metric tons. |
| C．About 6000 metric tons. | D．About 6600 metric tons. |
①Making full use of solar and wind energy
②Planting a lot of trees and growing flowers
③Producing clean energy through incineration
④Dealing with wastewater to reach drinking-water quality
⑤Making environmentally friendly bricks from the residue
| A．②③④ | B．①④⑤ | C．③④⑤ | D．①②③ |
| A．Stubborn. | B．Courageous. | C．Gentle. | D．Hardworking. |
| A．China aids Hanoi with waste-to-power plant |
| B．Chinese masters train local workers in Vietnam |
| C．Achievement of cooperation between China and Vietnam |
| D．Project built on former site of Hanoi’s waste treatment center |
3 . Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World—Katherine Hayhoe’s new book, proposes to fight climate change through better communication. It is a follow-up to her awesome TED talk in 2018, when she declared the most important thing any individual can do to fight climate change is to talk about it.
Of many refreshing aspects of this book, one is that Hayhoe recounts both her successes and her failures to communicate, through which she has gathered evidence about what works and what does not. Much of the book’s advice is common sense, all backed up not just by Hayhoe’s experience but also with convincing research by psychologists and social scientists.
Hayhoe advises against trying to engage with a small minority, the “Dismissives”, who angrily reject the idea that human-caused climate change is a threat. Hayhoe pays special attention to Dismissives early on, noting that their aggressive posture online may create the impression that they’re everywhere. However, she argues, Dismissives account for only 7% of all American adults. The other 93% are more receptive by degree.
The book includes amusing examples of her encounters with the “Dismissives”, including an engineer who was unconvinced about the evidence but with whom she was able to establish mutual (相互的) respect through a shared passion for knitting (打毛线衣). It is also packed with inspiring accounts of how she has won over even the crowds who are the most suspicious. Her motto is “bond, connect and inspire”, which represents her approach of always looking for point s of common ground.
She also tells of a man who approached her after an event in London in 2019. Inspired by her TED talk, he had started to speak to everybody he could in his neighborhood of Wandsworth. He showed her details of 12,000 conversations that had taken place, claiming that they had helped to convince the council to declare a climate emergency and to switch investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
And so, while it may feel difficult to influence the outcome of the COP26, Hayhoe’s uplifting book makes a persuasive case that we can all do our bit to bring about success just by talking about the issue.
1. What does the book mainly focus on?| A．Explaining critical talking through literature. |
| B．Teaching communication skills with TED talks. |
| C．Sharpening people’s insight into climate change. |
| D．Sharing communication-centered tips for climate problems. |
| A．Serious and challenging. | B．Well-based and workable. |
| C．Approachable but one-sided. | D．Practical but unacknowledged. |
| A．By upgrading their social position. |
| B．By seeking shared interests or hobbies. |
| C．By changing their fundamental beliefs. |
| D．By offering more facts about climate change. |
| A．Turning to clean energy is inevitable. |
| B．We should raise people’s awareness of the climate crisis. |
| C．Conversations have an impact on climate decision-making. |
| D．A shy man began to speak to everybody motivated by Hayhoe. |
1. 活动过程；
2. 活动反响。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
School Activities for World Earth Day
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . Soot (烟灰) pollution is speeding up climate-driven melting in Antarctica, a new study suggests, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from an increasing number of humans who want to visit the place.
“It really makes us question, ‘Is our presence really needed?’” says Alia Khan, one of the authors of the new study. “We have quite a large black carbon footprint in Antarctica, which is enhancing snow and ice melt.”
Black carbon is the leftover thing from burning plants or fossil fuels. Soot in Antarctica comes primarily from waste gases of cruise ships (游轮), vehicles and airplanes, although some pollution travels on the wind from other parts of the globe. The dark particles (微粒) coat white snow and absorb heat from the sun the way a black T-shirt does on a warm day. The blanket of dark bits speeds up melting, which has already been happening more quickly because of global warming.
When snow and ice are uncovered, they reflect an enormous amount of sunlight before it can turn into heat. “These are the mirrors on our planet,” says Sonia Nagorski, a scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast. “When those mirrors are covered in a film of dark bits, they don’t send back that much light and heat. That means more heat is trapped on Earth, speeding up melting and contributing to global warming.”
As a scientist who personally visits Antarctica every year, Khan says she is troubled by her own research results. On the one hand, she goes to Antarctica to collect crucial data about how quickly the snow and ice there are disappearing. “But then when we come to conclusions like this, it really does make us think twice about how frequently we need to visit the continent,” she says, “and what kinds of regulations should be placed on tourism as well.” That could mean requiring that cruise ships and vehicles be electric, for example, or limiting the number of visitors each year.
1. What does the underlined word “It” refer to in Paragraph 2?| A．That thick snow and ice cover Antarctica all year round. |
| B．More and more people’s hoping to explore Antarctica. |
| C．Stopping soot from approaching Antarctica. |
| D．Tapping natural resources in Antarctica. |
| A．To make a guess. | B．To make a comment. |
| C．To make a comparison. | D．To make a conclusion. |
| A．Heat can be made full use of in Antarctica. |
| B．Uncovered snow and ice can trap more heat. |
| C．Speeding up melting can slow down global warming. |
| D．Snow and ice covered with dark particles reflect less sunlight. |
| A．She helps make regulations about travel in Antarctica. |
| B．She often leads tourists to visit Antarctica. |
| C．Trips to Antarctica should be controlled. |
| D．Tourism can help to develop Antarctica. |
6 . A librarian, whose name is Raden Roro Hendarti in Indonesia’s Java island, is lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect in a special way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.
Each weekday Raden Roro Hendarti fills up her three-wheeler with books, and then she rides it to Muntang village. There she exchanges books with the children for plastic cups, bass and other waste that she carries back. She told Reuters (路透社) she is helping develop reading in the kids as well as make them aware of the environment. As soon as she shows up, little children, many accompanied by their mothers, surround her “Trash Library” and exchange for the books.
They are all carrying trash bags and Raden’s three-wheeler quickly fills up with them as the books fly out. She’s happy the kids are going to spend less time on online games as a result. “Let us build a culture of reading from young age to reduce the harm of the online world,” Raden said.
She collects about 100 kg of waste each week, which is then sorted out by her colleagues and sent for recycling or sold. She has 6,000 books to lend and wants to take the mobile service to neighbouring areas as well. She hopes that more and more people can do something to help protect the environment.
1. Why is Raden lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect?| A．To collect trash and fight against climate change. |
| B．To teach children to save the earth by reading books. |
| C．To protect the environment and help children read more. |
| D．To introduce her books on protecting the earth to children. |
| A．Curious. | B．Responsible. | C．Hard-working. | D．Positive. |
| A．the service is popular only among adults. |
| B．Raden exchanges books two days a week. |
| C．Raden may take the service to neighbouring areas. |
| D．the waste will be sorted out after recycling or sold. |
| A．A Great Librarian. | B．Trash for Books. |
| C．Promotion for Recycling. | D．More Reading, Less Online Games. |
7 . The world’s most famous tire (轮胎) graveyard (坟地) of 42 million tires in the sands of Kuwait is finally being cleaned up and recycled. This news in itself would be a major relief to locals who have to suffer from the clouds of black smoke arising during fires. But the government isn’t stopping there. They are aiming to create a green city of 25,000 homes in line with a post-oil Persian Gulf, with a focus on sustainability and tourism.
The first step is to clear the ground. The Salmiya area, nicknamed “Rubber (橡胶) Mountain”, is formed from hundreds of small mountains of spent tires — a reaction from the one million cars which were added to Kuwait’s roads over the decade.
EPSCO Global General Trading recycling company has opened a recycling plant for the tires, where they’ve been collected, sorted, cut up, and pressed into other materials like rubbery coloured flooring tiles (铺地砖). The plant opened in January of 2021, and can recycle up to 3 million tires a year. The recycled material is then exported out to nearby gulf neighbours and Asia. In the place of the tires will be South Saad Al-Abdullah City, a green city characterizing a new era in the Middle-Eastern country.
Spent tires are a major environmental problem worldwide due to the room they take up and the chemicals they can release.
“We have moved from a difficult stage that was characterized by great environmental risk,” says Oil Minister Mohammed al-Fares. “Today the area is becoming clean and all tires are being removed to begin the launch of the project of Saad Al-Abdullah city.”
Expected to cost €3.3 billion and require 30 years to complete, the city hopes to feature green technology, probably like the kind one can see in other cities on the Persian Gulf, both existing and not. Saudi Arabia is planning to build a zero-emissions, car-less future city that’s centered around access to big data rather than water or crops.
1. Why is the Salmiya area called “Rubber Mountain”?| A．It is rich in rubber. | B．It has too many waste tires. |
| C．It used to be a mountain. | D．It has been a tradition. |
| A．A recycling company. | B．The purpose for removing tires. |
| C．How to build a green city. | D．What is done with the spent tires. |
| A．To make a prediction. | B．To explain an idea. | C．To present a fact. | D．To analyze a cause. |
| A．The Transformation of a Huge Landfill | B．Spent Tires, a Big Threat to the Environment |
| C．The Salmiya Area’s Measures to Kick Pollution | D．Kuwait Tire Mountain to Be into a Green City |
8 . Nanako Hama gets a lot of mail, mostly from strangers who live in her home city of Tokyo. In light envelopes, they send locks of their hair, hoping to recycle it.
People generate a huge amount of hair waste. Nearly all of that waste ends up in landfill, where it can release harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
But hair possesses useful qualities that it’s a shame to simply throw it away. That’s why people all around the world, like Hama, have been collecting hair and finding innovative ways to recycle it, including making mats (垫子)out of it for removing oil leaks.
Hama is part of the nonprofit Matter of Trust (MoT) members working at more than 60 centers dotted across 17 countries, using machines to make hair donated from local salons and individuals into square mats, which are then used to clean up the floating oil.
Hair is particularly well-suited for this, says MoT co-founder Lisa Gautier. “That’s because its rough sort of outer layer lets oil stick to it.” MoT’s mats have been used in major oil leaks. including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 2007 Cosco Busan incidents.
In a 2018 study, Murray, an environmental scientist at the University of Technology Sydney, in Australia found that mats made of recycled human hair could absorb 0.84 grams of oil onto its surface for every gram of hair—significantly more than polypropylene (聚丙烯), a type of plastic that’s typically used to clean up floating oil.
Besides, hair is also useful as fertilizer (化肥). Hair contains a relatively high nitrogen (氮), a chemical element crucial for plant growth, and each lock of hair is made of roughly 16 percent of this essential nutrient. Last year, more than 560 gallons of liquid fertilizer made from human hair was sold to farmers in northern Tanzania and the feedback from the farmers has been very encouraging.
“It’s just a great way to use hair in a productive way. Hair is an answer literally hanging in front of our eyes—for oil and soil,” Hama says.
1. How does the author introduce the topic in paragraph 1?| A．By detailing the background. | B．By presenting a scene. |
| C．By describing the feedback. | D．By supporting evidences. |
| A．Fertilize the soil. | B．Prevent oil leaks. |
| C．Clear the sea of oil. | D．Take in harmful gas. |
| A．Its color and strength. |
| B．Its length and amount. |
| C．Its weight and flexibility. |
| D．Its structure and component. |
| A．Debatable. | B．Applicable. |
| C．Irreplaceable. | D．Uncontrollable. |
9 . The number of fish caught just outside an expanded Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Hawaii has risen. It is a sign that quadrupling (使成四倍) the size of the reserve in 2014 may have increased fish populations in the region.
When the Marine Protected Area around Hawaii was enlarged to 1,600,000 square kilometers, marine conservationists around the world were delighted. As opposed to those who advocates marine conservation, fishers may have felt differently at first, as fishing inside the area is not allowed. Yet by creating a space for the ever reducing tuna (金枪鱼) populations to recover, supporters argued, the reserve would benefit fisheries (捕鱼业) as well. As populations inside the reserve boundaries steadily increased, they predicted, the fish would spill (溢出) over into the surrounding areas, increasing the amount of tuna available to catch.
Proving that is tricky, however, as tunas can’t be counted directly. Their numbers may rise or fall for a variety of reasons other than the expansion of a reserve. But the new study, published in Science this week, strongly suggests the number of fish caught just outside the MPA is higher now than it used to be.
Alan Fried, chief scientist for the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas project, calls the study a “very careful and strict test of spillover from Marine Protected Area.”
Importantly, says John Lynn, an environmental economist at the University of Hawaii and one of the study’s authors, the increase in tuna catches near the reserve held up even when looking at the average numbers caught by particular fishers. This shows the effect is not due to more effective crews now fishing local waters, he explains.
Lynn and colleagues found the catch per hook increased over the 10 years of the study. Fishers were catching on average six more yellow-fin tunas and five more big-eye tunas per year after the expansion than before.
1. What can we infer about the Marine Protected Area?| A．It used to be about 400,000 square kilometers before 2014. |
| B．It is accessible to local fishers for fishing after its expansion. |
| C．It would not benefit fisheries in the long run. |
| D．It was lacking in space for tunas to hunt for food. |
| A．Joyful. | B．Cautious. | C．Unpleasant. | D．Excited. |
| A．Tunas will benefit the local fisheries. |
| B．Tunas available to catch outside MPA will increase. |
| C．The number of tunas can’t be counted directly. |
| D．The expansion of Marine Protected Area is beneficial. |
| A．Advocates call on protecting the local fisheries. |
| B．Expanded Marine Protected Area helps fisheries. |
| C．Local fisheries hold a promising future. |
| D．Tuna population can be counted in an accurate and scientific way. |
10 . A new study says that no matter how much the world cuts back on greenhouse gases, a large and important part of ice of Antarctica (南极洲) is expected to disappear.
Researchers used computer models to expect the future melting (融化) of protective ice around Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. They said the melting will take hundreds of years. It will slowly add nearly 1.8 meters to sea levels. And it will be enough to change where and how people live in the future.
The study found that even if future warming was limited to just a few tenths of a degree more, it would have limited power to prevent ocean warming that could lead to the breakdown of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Study lead writer Kaitlin Naughten is an expert on oceans at the British Antarctic Survey. She said their research suggests that Earth is set on the path to a quickly increasing speed of ocean warming and ice shelf melting over the rest of the century.
While past studies have talked about how serious the situation is, Naughten was the first to use computer modeling to study how warm water from below will melt the ice. The study looked at four different cases in how much greenhouse gases the world produces. In each case, ocean warming was just too much for this area of the ice to survive.
Naughten looked at floating areas of ice that hold back glaciers (冰川). Once these areas of ice melt, there is nothing to stop the glaciers behind them from flowing (流) into the sea.
The study also looked at what would happen if future warming was limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius over mid-19th century levels: the international goal. They found the rapid melting process in this case as well.
The world has already warmed about 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times and much of this summer went past the 1.5 degrees mark.
1. Which can best describe the findings of the study?| A．Cheerful. | B．Encouraging. | C．Misleading. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．Her research area. | B．Her research time. |
| C．Her research method. | D．Her research purpose. |
| A．They will flow into the sea. | B．They protect the Antarctic ice. |
| C．They have warmed about 1.2℃. | D．They disappear faster than other ice. |
| A．Ice in Parts of Antaretica Will Disappear | B．Climate Change Will Harm Humans |
| C．Sea Level Will Rise Suddenly in the Future | D．Limiting Greenhouse Gases Makes No Sense |
