1 . In films and TV shows, police officers study fingerprints to catch bad guys. Now, conservationists (people who work to protect animals and the environment) are using a similar method to deal with the illegal overfishing of sharks.
Overfishing is when too many of a particular type of fish are caught, putting that species in danger. Many sharks are killed because of a high demand — and high price — for their fins. In some countries they are used to make shark fin soup, which some people believe is good for health. Around 100 species of sharks are protected by CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is an agreement between 184 countries that protects wildlife that is sold.
CITES has teams of people who visit ports and fish factories to look for evidence of protected species being illegally caught and sold. The idea is to punish those responsible and stop it happening, but finding evidence is difficult and can take a long time. Often, fish are sold before teams arrive and if a fish is cut up ready for sale, it’s hard to tell which species it was.
Scientists have come up with a process that studies “fish dust” — tiny traces of fish that get left on the floor at ports and factories, even after the fish have gone. Using a process called metabarcoding, they examine the DNA in it and can tell if the DNA is from a protected species. The scientists tested the method in Indonesia, where many sharks are caught and sold. They studied dust from seven sites and found evidence of 61 shark species — more than 80% of them CITES-protected. Dr. Andhika Prasetyo, the scientist who led the research, hopes the new method could soon be helping to protect endangered sea life.
1. What is the purpose of CITES?| A．To protect wildlife in the trade | B．To study the behavior of sharks. |
| C．To offer medical treatment to wildlife. | D．To stop overfishing in dangerous waters. |
| A．Observing endangered sharks up close. | B．Dealing with international problems. |
| C．Working with local fish factories. | D．Finding timely and effective evidence. |
| A．It has met the need for shark research. | B．It has begun to show promising results. |
| C．It has raised doubts in the fishing industry. | D．It has been introduced to different countries. |
| A．CITES: what it can tell us | B．DNA uncovers shark secrets |
| C．DNA tests could save sharks | D．The silent guardian of the sea: CITES |
2 . There are two distinctive types of electric buses making their way along Nanjing Xi Lu, one of Shanghai’s busiest roads. The first is a fleet of blue trolleybuses that serve bus route number 20, a line set up by a British-run transport company in 1928. They use poles to receive electricity from wires overhead and have kept the route running in this way for nearly a century. But while the historic electric buses are a reminder of Europe’s past technological innovation, the new buses traveling alongside them are symbols of China’s contemporary net-zero ambition. These modern electric buses powered by lithium batteries (锂电池) , were introduced in Shanghai in 2014. They offer a smoother ride, especially during starts and stops. Widely used across China, these buses are key to the country’s EV transition and are influencing the global shift towards green transportation.
The most recent data available shows that China in 2018 was still the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the global transport sector, responsible for 11%, and behind only the United States, which accounted for 21%. After around two decades of government support, China now boasts the world’s largest market for e-buses, making up more than 95% of global stock. At the end of 2022, China’s Ministry of Transport announced that more than three-quarters (77% or 542, 600) of all urban buses in the country were new energy vehicles. The speed of this transition was remarkable.
So far, however, the Chinese cities with the most successful e-bus introduction — such as Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai — all have moderate weather and are relatively flat. To take its e-bus campaign to the next level, China faces challenges. For one thing, it is difficult to bring fleets to cities such as Hong Kong, which — like London — have double-deckers. These two-storeyed vehicles are “very hard” to electrify, because they are heavier, use more energy, and so need bigger batteries, reducing the number of passengers they can carry. Cold weather is a problem, too, as it can make a battery’s charging time longer and its range shorter. The reason China has not achieved 100% electrification for its buses is its northern regions, which have cold winters, says Xue Lulu, a transportation expert at the World Resources Institute China.
1. How does the author describe the two types of electric buses in the first paragraph?| A．By contrasting their historical significance and technological advancements. |
| B．By highlighting their roles in protecting the environment and lasting use. |
| C．By focusing merely on their technical details and performance. |
| D．By explaining their operational challenges and requirements. |
| A．The global impact of carbon dioxide emissions. |
| B．The progress of China in reducing CO2 emissions. |
| C．The different emission levels of China and the USA. |
| D．The need for more government support in e-bus market. |
| A．Poor winter weather conditions. | B．Lack of transportation experts. |
| C．Short charging time of the battery. | D．Heavier and bigger bus bodies. |
| A．Worklife. | B．Culture. | C．Travel. | D．Earth. |
3 . Growing up in coastal Maine, Lynda Doughty spent lots of time out on the sea. There she often saw whales, seals and other marine (海洋的) animals. She developed a(n)
“I remember being so amazed by them and
She also
So she became a marine
In 2011, she
When COVID-19 broke out, things became more difficult, but they couldn’t
“We were so nervous of how we would
When another New England-based marine animal rescue program
“We could no longer take any
“I feel this strong
| A．habit | B．taste | C．love | D．approach |
| A．dreaming | B．wondering | C．estimating | D．approving |
| A．recognised | B．imagined | C．doubted | D．noticed |
| A．protect | B．attract | C．evolve | D．prevent |
| A．chemist | B．biologist | C．linguist | D．psychologist |
| A．set out | B．gave out | C．set up | D．gave up |
| A．go back | B．wipe out | C．come along | D．slow down |
| A．already | B．still | C．even | D．just |
| A．survive | B．capture | C．occupy | D．quit |
| A．Normally | B．Hopefully | C．Naturally | D．Luckily |
| A．started | B．stopped | C．continued | D．forgot |
| A．generous | B．delightful | C．crucial | D．terrifying |
| A．employers | B．partners | C．experts | D．animals |
| A．assisted | B．encouraged | C．needed | D．impressed |
| A．responsibility | B．ability | C．personality | D．chance |
4 . If you haven’t taken down your Christmas tree yet, no worries. Here’s an idea: have you ever thought about eating it?
Julia Georgallis has some recipes. Over the last five years, she’s been preparing carefully for Christmas dinners in London with a friend. “How can we make something sustainable around Christmas time? What can we cat? What’s the thing that no one eats and that somehow represents Christmas? And then we just decided on Christmas trees,” Georgallis says.
She turned it into a book, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree. And her idea is that it’s not that odd. Some people enjoy Christmas wine. Some people like to go shopping and most people can get behind saving the planet.
“What I aimed for this book to do, really, was to get people thinking about the odd ways that they can be more sustainable in their daily lives,” Georgallis says.
“Eating Christmas trees isn’t going to save any animals in danger or freeze any ice caps. But if we start to think about everything that we do as a whole, then that builds up, you know, and that helps,” she says.
Most of the recipes in her book use the needles from the tree. “You’d use the needles like a herb,” she says.
“And different Christmas trees kind of have different flavors. They’re quite subtle, but they do have different flavors. So fir (冷杉), which is a really popular choice of Christmas trees, gives people better feeling and atmosphere. And then you have pine, which is a little bit more delicate.”
A warning: some Christmas trees are poisonous if eaten — like cypress and cedars. And be sure your tree wasn’t sprayed with pesticides (杀虫剂) and other chemicals. “So if you have any doubt that your Christmas tree might not have been grown to eat, then maybe don’t eat it,” Georgallis says.
And, of course, don’t even think about eating your artificial tree!
So, with all those instructions and with the appropriate tree, what could we cook? Well, Georgallis’ book has all sorts of recipes for different foods and drinks. Let’s open up the world’s cuisine with simple ingredients!
1. What’s the main purpose of Georgallis’ book?| A．To tell people not to buy real trees. | B．To inspire people to be more eco-friendly. |
| C．To teach people how to enjoy Christmas wine. | D．To encourage people to throw away odd traditions. |
| A．Artificial trees can also be cooked. |
| B．Eating Christmas trees does good to saving animals. |
| C．Different trees have different features and tastes. |
| D．All Christmas trees have their own ways to be cooked. |
| A．Tips for choosing Christmas trees. | B．Warnings for cooking Christmas meals. |
| C．Comparison between real and artificial trees. | D．Recipes for different foods with Christmas trees. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A scientific report. | D．A lifestyle magazine. |
5 . Researchers in Australia have identified enzymes (酶) in the body of certain beetle larvae (甲虫幼虫) that can degrade or break down plastic. In a study published in Microbial Genomics, they write that these “superworms” could help reduce plastic waste in the future.
“Superworms are like mini recycling plants, cutting up the polysyrene (聚苯乙烯) with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their stomach,” said Chris Rinke from the University of Queensland in Australia. “The breakdown products from this reaction can then be used by other microbes to create high-value chemicals.”
In the study, scientists divided beetle larvae into three groups, feeding one group wheat bran, one polystyrene and one nothing. Over three weeks, they monitored their growth. “We found that superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains,” said Rinke. “This suggests the worms can get energy from the polystyrene, most likely with the help of their stomach bacteria.”
On the other hand, the plastic-fed worms gained much less weight and were overall much less healthy than the bran-fed ones, though better off than the starvation group. After three weeks, some larvae were also set aside to grow into beetles, according to the study. About 93% of the bran-fed larvae formed adult worms, while about 67% of the plastic-fed larvae and 10% of the starved larvae formed adult worms.
The researchers investigated the superworm’s stomach bacteria to find the specific enzymes linked to plastic degradation, writes Fionna M. D. Samuels for Scientific American. The enzyme that degrades the polystyrene appears to live with the stomach bacteria, not the worm itself.
Polystyrene is one of the most common plastics used today. But it’s not very chemically reactive, and breaking it down with industrial recycling methods takes high heat. So, researchers have been looking for plastic-degrading enzymes and bacteria for years.
Further research will still need to be done to figure out how to employ these worms, bacteria and enzymes in recycling facilities.
1. What does Chris Rinke compare superworms to?| A．Small plants. | B．Beetle larvae. | C．Stomach bacteria. | D．High-value chemicals. |
| A．Few. | B．Tiny. | C．Obvious. | D．Normal. |
| A．The damage of plastic to life. |
| B．Possible causes of plastic pollution. |
| C．Researchers’ efforts over the years to recycle plastic. |
| D．The necessity of finding out a way to degrade plastic. |
| A．To report a new way to recycle plastic. | B．To call on people to reduce plastic waste. |
| C．To explain how larvae can degrade plastic. | D．To introduce the findings of a new research. |
6 . Finding a California condor in the wild would be the most unusual treat. perhaps even more unusual than finding a wolf in Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the wolf was what opened my eyes to the fact that humans could bring an animal back to the place where it had disappeared.
In 1987, there were only 27 California condors left, none of which were in the wild, only in captive breeding programs, It was those breeding programs that contributed to their population rise, enough that by 1991 some of them could be freed into the wild.
Still, the hope of seeing a California condor, which remains an endangered species, is very low, let alone getting a photo of one. California condor population dropped mostly due to human factors, such as poaching and living areas destruction-these are challenges California condors still face today.
Although this is just a bird’s-eye view of the challenges California condors face and there are many others, it is part of why the opportunity to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service team and their partners helping their recovery is so special to me as a photographer. I am not only able to photograph the birds in their wild living areas, but also understand and record how difficult the work is of those people on the front lines of the protection.
I am grateful for the work of the team, and my hope is that California condor population will continue to rise allowing future generations an opportunity I never had when I first got here-to look to the sky and see one flying around.
1. What helped the increase of the California condor population in 1987?| A．Rules for hunters. | B．Captive breeding programs. |
| C．The improved natural environment. | D．The enlargement of wild living areas. |
| A．It is difficult. | B．It is easy. | C．It is boring. | D．It is dangerous. |
| A．He guided ways for them. | B．He made records by photos. |
| C．He helped the birds to recover. | D．He rebuilt the birds’ living areas. |
| A．New Way, New Hope | B．Wolves and California Condors |
| C．A Photo of a California Condor | D．The California Condor’s Coming Back |
7 . Monkfish are low in calories and they are easy to cook. They can be cut into pieces, mixed with egg whites, cornflour and salt, and then put into boiling water for a few minutes. There is only one problem with monkfish: they are ugly. With their eyes sticking out and wide mouths full of sharp teeth, they are frightening.
In the Netherlands, fishermen who caught them used to throw them back. They are still usually sold without their heads, but the days of throwing them away are long gone. Japanese diners love the fatty liver; while Italians may still call them toad tails, that doesn’t stop them from eating the fish. People have been encouraged to eat more monkfish, as well as other unattractive creatures — in order to ensure the biodiversity of the ocean environment.
There are more examples for sea animals going from “purposely avoided” to “willingly consumed”. In America, lobsters used to be fed to prisoners — a result of their abundance but also, no doubt, because they are difficult to eat and look frightening. Not until the late 19th century did they become fantastic dish. Today they are so desirable that Maine, where most American lobsters are caught, has the images of these creatures printed on many of its vehicles.
Sometimes fashion goes the other way. Turtles were plentiful in early America, but in the 19th century they became fashionable: few foods were more recommended than turtle soup. Americans ate some species of turtle nearly to extinction. Yet today turtle-eating is more closely associated with remote and uncultured areas.
Among cooking choices, people prefer the rare and the beautiful one than the unattractive one. But such narrow-minded food choices can have bad results: some species may not survive human preference for them. Better to stare into monkfish’s eyes than to contribute to the permanent loss of a species.
1. How were monkfish treated in the Netherlands?| A．They were abandoned by local fishermen. | B．They were popular due to their fatty livers. |
| C．They were called toad tails from time to time. | D．They were considered a danger to the ecosystem. |
| A．To stress its abundance in America. | B．To make a comparison with monkfish. |
| C．To prove prisoners used to be fed on seafood. | D．To show people’s food habits keep changing. |
| A．Turtle-eating has been out of date now. |
| B．Turtles have completely disappeared in America. |
| C．Turtles were purposely avoided among food choices. |
| D．Turtle-eating was against fashion in the 19th century. |
| A．To introduce rare undersea wildlife. | B．To encourage people to eat seafood. |
| C．To explain why people dislike monkfish. | D．To call for the protection of biodiversity. |
8 . As the planet gets hotter, the need for cool living environments is becoming more urgent. But air conditioning is a major contributor to global warming since units release powerful greenhouse gases and use lots of energy.
Now, researchers from McGill University, UCLA and Princeton have found in a new study an inexpensive, sustainable alternative to mechanical cooling with refrigerants (制冷剂) in hot and dry climates, and a way to relieve dangerous heat waves during electricity blackouts.
The researchers set out to answer how to achieve a new benchmark (基准) in passive cooling inside naturally conditioned buildings in hot climates such as Southern California. As an attempt, they examined the use of roof materials that radiate (辐射) heat into the cold universe, even under direct sunlight, and how to combine them with temperature-driven ventilation (通风). These cool radiator materials and coatings are often used to stop roofs overheating. Researchers have also used them to improve heat rejection from chillers. But there is untapped potential for integrating them into architectural design more fully, so they can not only reject indoor heat to outer space in a passive way, but also drive regular and healthy air changes.
“We found we could maintain air temperatures several degrees below the current surrounding temperature, and several degrees more below a reference ‘gold standard’ for passive cooling,” said Remy Fortin, lead author and PhD candidate at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture. “We did this without sacrificing healthy ventilation air changes.” This was a considerable challenge, considering air exchanges are a source of heating when the aim is to keep a room cooler than the outside.
The researchers hope the findings will be used to positively impact communities suffering from dangerous climate heating and heatwaves. “We hope that materials scientists, architects, and engineers will be interested in these results, and that our work will inspire more complete thinking for how to integrate breakthroughs in radiative cooling materials with simple but effective architectural solutions,” said Remy Fortin.
1. What might cause researchers to look for an alternative to air conditioning?| A．The severe shortage of energy. | B．The greenhouse effect of air conditioning. |
| C．The increasing dangerous heatwaves. | D．The need for cool living environments. |
| A．To obtain ideas for their research. | B．To prevent roofs from overheating. |
| C．To find the best material for roofs. | D．To make roofs well ventilated. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Disapproving. | C．Positive. | D．Worried. |
| A．An effective architectural solution |
| B．A major contributor to global warming |
| C．A sustainable alternative to air conditioning |
| D．A more complete thinking for cooling materials |
9 . The heavy use of fossil fuels over the last 150 years has released massive amounts of greenhouse gases, which has caused the Earth to warm up. Scientists say large amounts of CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere and stored. Plants and trees do this naturally. But there’s so much CO2 in the atmosphere that just planting trees and protecting forests won’t solve the problem. And, when these plants and trees die, the carbon they’ve stored gets released again. That means humans need to come up with ways of removing carbon from the air and storing it. This is called Direct Air Capture(DAC).
A company called Heirloom has just opened the first DAC plant in the United States. Heirloom’s process uses limestone to capture CO2. The company heats up the limestone to separate out the CO2, which is then locked away in concrete. Heirloom uses renewable electricity to produce the heat, so the process doesn’t produce more CO2. The process is extremely expensive though. The new plant can remove 1,000 tons of CO2 a year. That’s a tiny amount compared to how much carbon needs to be removed from the atmosphere.
Graphyte is another US company working on DAC. The company collects unwanted plants. It dries this “biomass” completely so that it can’t break down. Graphyte then strikes the dried plants into small bricks which are trapped in a special wrapper and buried deep underground. Graphyte says its process doesn’t use much energy and can work anywhere. The company claims the cost is merely less than $100 to capture a ton of CO2.
Not everyone is excited about carbon removal. Some people worry that it will take too long to make a difference. Others worry that focusing on removing carbon could take attention away from more important climate actions, like switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy. But experts say the decision isn’t to do one or the other. The world needs to end fossil fuel use and pull carbon out of the air.
1. What can be the impact of the death of plants according to Paragraph 1?| A．Their leaves take in more carbon. |
| B．There is an increase of carbon in the air. |
| C．It leads to the death of animals dependent on them. |
| D．The carbon they absorb disappears with their death. |
| A．A course studying the atmosphere. |
| B．An association dealing with climate change. |
| C．A new method beneficial for the environment. |
| D．A newly developed material for a greener world. |
| A．Its operation procedures are simpler. | B．It achieves its goal at a lower expense. |
| C．Its products are intended for construction. | D．It works with the aid of renewable energy. |
| A．It’s necessary to work along both lines. | B．Carbon removal is a win-win solution. |
| C．Environmental issues are about to be resolved. | D．Advantages always coexist with disadvantages. |
1. Why are all participants dressed in green?
| A．To look young and energetic. |
| B．To match the theme of the campaign. |
| C．To keep the team easily manageable. |
| A．Planting trees. | B．Designing posters. | C．Collecting garbage. |
| A．Organize the campaign. |
| B．Stop driving cars. |
| C．Drive students to do activities. |
| A．Repair lights. | B．Decorate classrooms. | C．Paint school boards. |
