要点：1.问题：全球沙漠化的面积约占整个地球的四分之一；全世界受沙漠化影响的国家有100多个；到下个世纪，沙漠化的面积有可能增长17%；
2.原因：人类的行为，如乱砍滥伐；全球气候变暖等；
3.倡议：植树造林；呼吁人们提高环保意识……
注意：1.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
2.词数：不少于100词(开头已给出，但不计入总词数)。
In recent years, desertification has gone from bad to worse and threatened us in many ways.
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2 . As seabird biologist Bonnie Slaton slides off a small boat and walks through high water, the brown pelicans (鹈鹕) spread their wings overhead until she reaches Raccoon Island. The narrow island is a small piece of land separating the American state of Louisiana from the Gulf of Mexico. During the seabird breeding (繁殖) season, the placer, one of the few remaining places of safety for the pelicans, is full of noise.
Twelve years ago, there were 15 low-lying islands with breeding areas for Louisiana’s state bird. However, today, only about six islands in southeastern Louisiana have brown pelican nests and the rest have disappeared underwater.
Slaton and other scientists set u cameras to observe pelican nests on the island. The cameras show that in recent years the pelicans have faced some natural disasters. The main killer of them is flooding, which can wash away all the nests, as happened in April 2021. The disappearing islands are the location of a story of successful conservation. For many years, scientists have worked to bring the pelicans beck from tally dying off.
Mike Carloss is a state wildlife biologist in Louisiana. He said he never saw brown pelicans as a child in the 1960s. Their populations had been killed by the use of DDT, a kind of farm chemical. It thinned eggshells and prevented pelicans from giving birth to young birds. The beloved birds were completely gone from Louisiana, only appearing on the state flag. But a long-running effort to save them led to the birds’ return. After DDT was stopped in the U.S. in 1972, biologists brought young pelicans from nearby Florida to let them inhabit empty islands across the Gull of Mexico again. More than 1,200 pelicans have been set free in southeastern Louisiana over 13 years.
The brown pelicans can live more than 20 years. So, the final effect of disappearing breeding areas is uncertain and it will sill take time to become clear. And the future for pelicans is uncertain on the islands.
1. What is a killer of brown pelicans?| A．The island movement. | B．The underwater noise. |
| C．The increase of human population. | D．The disappearance of breeding areas. |
| A．To stop illegal hunting. | B．To watch pelicans’ home. |
| C．To predict serious flooding. | D．To record the number of pelicans |
| A．Live on. | B．Focus on. | C．Break into. | D．Look into. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Doubtful. | C．Curious. | D．Proud. |
3 . Not long ago, Egypt marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal. The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It helped speed world trade between the East and the West. But the man-made waterway has also helped speed the rise of other things, such as invasive(入侵的)non-native species (物种). Scientists say the invasive creatures have damaged the Mediterranean’s environment and caused native species to disappear.
The number of non-native creatures has risen since the Suez Canal was widened in 2015. The “New Suez Canal” has raised concerns in Europe and brought disagreement from many Mediterranean countries. Bella Galil is an Israeli biologist who has studied the Mediterranean for over 30 years. She says much of the ecological(生态的)damage cannot be repaired. She said urgent action is needed to ease the effects of the invasive fish and other sea life.
Galil works at Tel Aviv University’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. She noted that the widening and deepening of the Suez Canal has created a “moving aquarium” of species. These creatures could make coastal waters almost unusable for human beings. Galil believes the number of invasive species has reached 400. That is twice the number 30 years ago. She said this is a “historic example of the dangers of unintended consequences.”
Israel is now dealing with huge numbers of poisonous(有毒的) jellyfish that affect coastal power centers and keep people from visiting the seashore. Other poisonous species, such as the lionfish and silver-cheeked toadfish, are also appearing.
Galil said the problems of invasive species can be compared to those of climate change, pollution and over-fishing. She argues that the new species have caused a major “restructuring” of the environment. This has endangered native species.
Some experts have suggested that increasing salt levels in the canal itself could create a barrier(障碍物) that would keep invasive species out.
1. What lesson can we learn from the effects of the Suez Canal?| A．Seeing is believing. | B．Every coin has two sides. |
| C．Let nature take its course. | D．Everyone makes mistakes. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Unclear. | C．Supportive. | D．Against. |
| A．It is from bad to worse. | B．It remains the same. |
| C．It improves a great deal. | D．It has become a completely new one. |
| A．To add some background information. | B．To stress the harm of invasive species. |
| C．To solve the problem of invasive species. | D．To compare their similarities and differences. |
