1 . A tree-planting initiative in Kenya has seen over 30,000 trees being planted. The Green Generation Initiative is a Kenyan charity that has been planting trees to counter climate change and the reduction in forest in the East African nation since 2016.
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Speaking to world leaders at the recent United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Elizabeth issued a serious warning on the threat of climate change. Over two million of Kenyans are facing climate related starvation. In 2025, half of the world’s population will be facing water shortage. The climate crisis will displace 80 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
Elizabeth said, “I have been doing what I can. Inspired by the great Wangari Maathai, I founded a tree growing initiative that enhances food security for young Kenyans.” So far, they have grown 30,000 fruit trees to maturity, providing desperately needed nutrition for thousands of children. “Every day we see that when we look after the trees, they look after us. We are the adults on this Earth right now, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the children have food and water,” she added.
Which of the following can best describe Elizabeth Wathuti?A.Friendly and talented. | B.Caring and responsible. |
C.Honest and determined. | D.Ambitious and humorous. |
2 . Tree-planting, intended to help draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, has become a synonym (同义词) for climate action. In our constant focus on trees, we’ve developed a fixed understanding: Trees absorb carbon dioxide, end of story. The reality is that trees don’t grow well alone. They exist within complex communities, helped along by each other as well as the animals they coexist with. The woodland isn’t nature’s only carbon sink: Grasslands and oceans also help reduce the carbon level and rely on a healthy amount of biodiversity.
That’s what the paper, published in Nature, wants to get across. Co-author Oswald J. Schmitz, a professor of ecology at Yale University, said trees might not be able to do their carbon-uptake job efficiently without the right animals in their ecosystem. That’s because animals animate the carbon cycle through their behavior and roles in the ecosystem. He added that the very presence of wild animals could cause feedback effects that change the ecosystem’s capacity to absorb, release, or transport carbon.
In Serengeti, for instance, the sharp decline in wildebeest (角马) population s during the mid-20th century allowed grass to grow wildly, eventually promoting wildfires that consumed 80 percent of the ecosystem annually and led to a net release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When disease management and bans on illegal hunting helped animal populations recover, a greater share of the carbon stored in plants was consumed by wildebeest and released as waste, keeping it in the system and restoring the grassland as a carbon sink.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?A.Actions are needed to reduce carbon dioxide. |
B.Trees are a quick solution to the climate crisis. |
C.People are not thinking through trees properly. |
D.Grasslands and oceans help maintain biodiversity. |
A.The conservation of animals is still a serious issue. |
B.Animals can swing the ecosystem’s capacity to store carbon. |
C.Human impacts bring about the reduction in wildlife populations. |
D.The increase in animal species causes a decrease in carbon uptake. |
3 . Zero waste was a radical lifestyle movement a few years back. I remember showing my parents a video of Bea Johnson, sharing how cool I thought it would be to buy groceries with jars, and have so little trash! A few days later, I came back with my first jars of zero waste groceries, and my dad commented on how silly it was for me to carry jars everywhere. It came off as a bit discouraging.
Yet as the months of reducing waste continued, I did what I could that was within my own reach. I had my own bedroom, so I worked on removing things I didn’t need. Since I had my own toiletries (洗漱用品), I was able to start personalising my routine to be more sustainable. I also offered to cook every so often, so I portioned out a bit of the cupboard for my own zero waste groceries. Perhaps your household won’t entirely make the switch, but you may have some control over your own personal spaces to make the changes you desire.
As you make your lifestyle changes, you may find yourself wanting to speak up for yourself if others comment on what you’re doing, which can turn itself into a whole household debate. If you have individuals who are not on board, your words probably won’t do much and can often leave you feeling more discouraged.
So here is my advice: Lead by action.
1. What was the attitude of the author’s father toward buying groceries with jars?A.He disapproved of it. | B.He was favorable to it. |
C.He was tolerant of it. | D.He didn’t care about it. |
A.She is quite good at cooking. | B.She respects others’ privacy. |
C.She enjoys being a housewife. | D.She is a determined person. |
4 . Some scientists say that animals in the oceans are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings.
The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling,and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels(分贝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety-five would have the same effect.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales’ ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected.
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.
Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?A.The man-made noises. | B.The noises made by themselves. |
C.The sound of earthquakes. | D.The sound of the ice-breaking. |
A.Different places with different types of noises. |
B.The very human ears sensitive to all types of noises. |
C.The same noise measured differently on land and in the ocean. |
D.The ocean animals’ reaction to noises. |
5 . When John Todd was a child, he loved to explore the woods around his house, observing how nature solved problems. A dirty stream, for example, often became clear after flowing through plants and along rocks where tiny creatures lived. When he got older, John started to wonder if this process could be used to clean up the messes people were making.
After studying agriculture, medicine, and fisheries in college, John went back to observing nature and asking questions. Why can certain plants trap harmful bacteria (细菌)? Which kinds of fish can eat cancer-causing chemicals? With the right combination of animals and plants, he figured, maybe he could clean up waste the way nature did. He decided to build what he would later call an eco-machine.
The task John set for himself was to remove harmful substances from some sludge (污泥). First, he constructed a series of clear fiberglass tanks connected to each other. Then he went around to local ponds and streams and brought back some plants and animals. He placed them in the tanks and waited. Little by little, these different kinds of life got used to one another and formed their own ecosystem. After a few weeks, John added the sludge.
He was amazed at the results. The plants and animals in the eco-machine took the sludge as food and began to eat it! Within weeks, it had all been digested, and all that was left was pure water.
Over the years, John has taken on many big jobs. He developed a greenhouse — like facility that treated sewage (污水) from 1,600 homes in South Burlington. He also designed an eco-machine to clean canal water in Fuzhou, a city in southeast China.
“Ecological design” is the name John gives to what he does. “Life on Earth is kind of a box of spare parts for the inventor,” he says. “You put organisms in new relationships and observe what’s happening. Then you let these new systems develop their own ways to self-repair.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Fuzhou?A.To review John’s research plans. | B.To show an application of John’s idea. |
C.To compare John’s different jobs. | D.To erase doubts about John’s invention. |
A.Nature can repair itself. | B.Organisms need water to survive. |
C.Life on Earth is diverse. | D.Most tiny creatures live in groups. |
6 . The largest living land animal in Asia, Asian elephants once roamed grasslands and rainforests across the continent. Prior to the 1700s, habitats for the now-endangered animals were relatively stable (稳定的). But a new study shows that more than 64% of historic suitable elephant habitat across Asia has been lost.
Researchers found there was a rapid growth in habitat loss of Asian elephants from the year 1700, which is related to the expansion of European colonization (殖民化) of the region. During that time, logging, road-building, resource extraction and deforestation (森林砍伐) increased, and farming need more land that might otherwise have been home to wildlife. The industrial revolution in the middle of the last century also drove greater habitat loss.
Habitat loss means elephants are migrating (迁徙) from their usual living area, creating challenges for human communities that have little experience with elephants. In 2021, millions of people were frightened by a herd of elephants that migrated out of a protected area in China’s southwest Yunnan Province and walked more than 500 kilometers, destroying crops, wandering through towns and causing more than a million dollars’ worth of damage.
With the elephants not having enough habitat, there is increased potential for human-elephant conflict (冲突) — a situation that shouldn’t be accepted as unavoidable and one that can be avoided with proper planning. “We are going to reach a tipping point in which cultures of no conflict toward one another get replaced by cultures of antagonism ( 敌 对) and violence — by both species. We have to relieve this situation,” said Shermin de Silva, a UCSD faculty member who led the research team.
If the elephants can’t find suitable habitats, they will become endangered and near extinction (灭绝), which has an effect on the whole ecosystem. This is because elephants help spread seeds and vegetation cover (植被). Their habitats also include several other species of animals and plants. In the wake of satisfying their need for large spaces, and enough water and food, plenty of other species can survive. When we protect the elephant, we also protect thousands of other species.
1. What do we learn about the migrating elephants?A.They lost their way home. |
B.They enjoyed feeding on crops. |
C.They caused many troubles for the locals. |
D.They were heading southwest in search of water. |
A.Lessen. | B.Adopt. | C.Bear. | D.Plan. |
A.To explain the significance of species diversity. |
B.To stress the necessity of protecting elephants. |
C.To provide suggestions on restoring elephant habitats. |
D.To show the impact of the elephant population on the ecosystem. |
A.The Past of Asian Elephants |
B.Causes of Habitat Loss of Asian Elephants |
C.Reasons for Protecting Elephants |
D.The Survival Crisis of Asian Elephants |
Beijing is the capital city of China. It
The loss of grassland and scrubland is already having a major influence
“Cranes are rare and valuable animals in China. At Miyun, a festival
“More cooperation (合作) between
1. Who kept the man informed of most related information?
A.The staff. |
B.The students. |
C.The cleaners. |
A.The paper copying. |
B.The paper cups. |
C.The plastic cups. |
A.55%. | B.45%. | C.30%. |
A.Putting up a poster. |
B.Holding an exhibition. |
C.Delivering a lecture. |
注意:
1. 可适当增加细节,使行文连贯;
2. 词数80左右。
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1. 活动时间、地点和目的;
2. 活动过程;
3. 活动反响。
注意: 词数80左右
标题已拟好
A Meaning Tree-planting Event
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