1 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource. org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, meal-worms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that meal-worms can digest plastic. One meal-worm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠) . The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space-is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?| A．It can be used to cool drinks. | B．It is a weightless material. |
| C．It is harmful when recycled. | D．It is usually used on ships. |
| A．Meal-worms have amazing digesting power. | B．Meal-worms are not bad in their nature. |
| C．Meal-worms can rescue people’s lives. | D．People misunderstood meal-worms in the past. |
| A．by raising amounts of meal-worms | B．by environmental engineering instructors |
| C．using a method inspired by eating meal-worms | D．without sending out dangerous pollution |
| A．Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. | B．Meal-worms are genius at eating plastic |
| C．Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. | D．Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide |
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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3 . Biologists are becoming more and more concerned that global climate change will probably reduce biodiversity. Some biologists estimate that 35% of animals and plants could become extinct in the wild by 2050 due to global climate change. Before the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rarely climbed above 280 ppm; But during the 2014 calendar year, carbon dioxide levels ascended to 402 ppm.
In the fall of 2014, the National Audubon Society released a report entitled Birds and Climate Change. It is a comprehensive, first-of-its kind study that predicts how climate change could affect the ranges of 588 North American birds. Of the 588 North American bird species, more than half are likely to be in trouble. The National Audubon Society’s models indicate that 314 species will lose more than 50 percent of their current climatic range by 2080. Of the 314 species at risk from global warming, 126 of them are classified as climate endangered. These birds are projected to lose more than 50 percent of their current range by 2050. The other 188 species are classified as climate threatened and expected to lose more than 50 percent of their current range by 2080 if global warming continues at its current pace.
In January 2020, two widely reported studies were carried out to show the dramatic impact of climate disruption on our wildlife and fisheries along the California coast. The first study showed that from 2014 to 2016, over a million common murres from Alaska through California died as a result of a marine heat wave. The second study shows that acid rainfall caused by carbon emissions is harming shell-building animals in the ocean. The study found that larval Dungeness crabs’ shells suffer damage in west coast seawater, putting at risk the most profitable fishery in California and a beloved local seafood.
These newly documented impacts provide more evidence that we are running out of time to take action by drastically reducing our use of fossil fuels in order to slow the rate of climate disruption and to give birds and other animals more time to adapt.
Visit our How You Can Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions page to learn what you can do to help protect these species at risk from climate disruption.
1. What does “ascended” underlined in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Reduced. | B．Rose. |
| C．Fell. | D．Appeared. |
| A．The report on the human society. |
| B．The reason of global warming. |
| C．The disappearance of the birds. |
| D．The influence of climate change. |
| A．They both had a big effect on humans. |
| B．Many murres were killed by heat wave. |
| C．Crabs’ shells are local people’s favorite. |
| D．Acid rain caused most carbon emission. |
| A．A science website. | B．An art magazine. |
| C．A history book. | D．A diet newspaper. |
4 . Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly poor rural communities that depend on the land for their livelihoods and coastal populations throughout the tropics. We have already seen a chain of tough suffering that results from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and more.
For remedies, advocates and politicians have tended to look toward cuts in fossil-fuel use or technologies to capture carbon before it enters the atmosphere—both of which are crucial. But this focus has overshadowed the most powerful and cost-efficient carbon capture technology in the world. Recent research confirms that forests are absolutely essential in reducing climate change, thanks to their ability to absorb and isolate carbon. In fact, natural climate solutions such as conservation and restoration of forests, along with improvements in land management, can help us achieve 37 percent of our climate target of limiting warming to a maximum of two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, even though they currently receive only 2.5 percent of public climate financing.
Forests’ power to store carbon dioxide is staggering: one tree can store an average of about 48 pounds in one year. Intact(完整的)forests could take in the CO2 emissions of some entire countries.
For this reason, policymakers and business leaders must create and enforce policies to prevent deforestation, foster, reforestation of degraded land, and promote the sustainable management of standing forests in the fight against climate change. Protecting the world’s forests ensures they can keep performing essential functions such as producing oxygen, filtering water and supporting biodiversity. Not only does the world’s entire population depend on forests to provide clean air, clean water, oxygen and medicines, but 1.6 billion people also rely on them directly for their livelihoods.
Unfortunately, a huge amount of forest continues to be converted into agricultural land to produce a handful of resource-intensive commodities - despite zero-deforestation commitments from companies and governments. So now is the time to increase forest protection and restoration. This action will also address a number of other pressing global issues. For example, in less developed, rural areas - especially in the tropics - community-based forest-management programs can forge pathways out of poverty. In the Peten region of Guatemala, for instance, community-managed forests boasted a near-zero deforestation rate from 2000 through 2013, as compared with 12 percent in nearby protected areas and buffer(缓冲)zones. These communities have built low-impact, sustainable forest-based businesses that have stimulated the economy of the region enough to fund the creation of local schools and health services. Their success is especially noticeable in a location where, outside these community-managed zones, deforestation rates have increased 20-fold.
1. Which of the following statements about natural climate solutions is true according to the passage?| A．They are the only effective strategies available to address the climate change. |
| B．They pale in comparison with the reduction in fossil-fuel use or technologies. |
| C．They can and should play a more important role in cutting carbon emissions. |
| D．They manage to limit warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. |
| A．documented | B．incredible |
| C．unsteady | D．negligible |
| A．The policies to prevent deforestation have borne fruit. |
| B．Developed countries are hit the hardest by climate change. |
| C．Economic growth contributes a lot to reducing deforestation. |
| D．Some governments fail to keep their promises to preserve forests. |
| A．Keeping forests undamaged can go a long way toward saving the planet. |
| B．A high-tech climate fix is required to dramatically lessen global warming. |
| C．Governments should work together with businesses to stop deforestation. |
| D．Sustainable management of forests is crucial in powering regional development. |
5 . 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. |
1. What are the speakers talking about?
| A．Sea power. | B．Wind power. | C．Solar power. |
| A．Summer. | B．Autumn. | C．Winter. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Puzzled. | C．Doubtful. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last month, our school launched a campaign which intention was to promote environmental protection. The campaign last for one week. Firstly, there was a photo display to show the seriously pollution caused by human activities. Secondly, there was a lecture on many small step that we could take in our daily life protect the environment. For example, taking the bus and using the bike-sharing system would be a good way. Last but not the least, we students were encouraging to decorate our classrooms with recycled materials. Through the campaign, they have benefited a lot. We realize that it is our responsible to leave a better, cleaner and healthier planet for future generations.
8 . Burning coal for energy adds planet-warning carbon dioxide (CO2) to Earth’s atmosphere. As the planet heats up, experts warn that simply cutting greenhouse gas emissions (排放) will not be enough to avoid global warming. CO2 must also be removed from the atmosphere.
Existing experimental machines that pull CO2 directly from the air are too expensive to be widely used. But a new effective technology to remove CO2 already exists. It is not expensive and easy. It is forests. Planting trees and watching forests are effective ways to clean the air.
Forests used to cover large areas of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. In the state of West Virginia, coal mining let the land there bare, without trees. Over the years, coal mining and cutting forests took over 90 percent of the red spruce (云杉) forests.
Chris Barton works for the University of Kentucky. He started a group called Green Forests Work, aiming to put trees back on the roughly 400,000 hectares of land.
However, Barton explains the land has problems. “If you planted trees on these places, they just didn’t grow. The ground was too hard. Water didn’t infiltrate (渗透). The trees can’t root. Oxygen can’t circulate in those environments.” Using heavy equipment, workers tear the ground. In this way, the trees put down roots.
Barton says not everyone believes the solution is a good idea. “We’ve had a lot of doubtful look at us twice from people. But after we do it, there’s no question that it was the right thing to do.” And it has worked. Forests are coming back to the grounds.
Scientists say that, in West Virginia alone, restoring red spruce forests to the area could send what is equal to 56 million barrels (桶) of oil into the ground. But it will take time — a long time. Around the world, experts say, nature offers powerful tools to fight climate change. But patience is needed. Nature works, but slowly, in its own time.
1. What is the economical and effective way to remove CO2 from the air?| A．Inventing new and powerful machines. |
| B．Cutting greenhouse gas emissions. |
| C．Making use of natural gases instead of coal |
| D．Planting trees and protecting forests. |
| A．Destroy. | B．Repair. | C．Cry. | D．Cover. |
| A．Oxygen is not enough for trees to grow there. |
| B．Too many rocks had made it hard to plant trees. |
| C．Coal mining has spoiled the land through years. |
| D．There is no water for trees to grow there. |
| A．a painful process | B．a slow process |
| C．a creative process | D．a learning process |
9 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.
But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.
One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.
“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”
Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.
1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?| A．To prevent natural disasters. | B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions. |
| C．To imitate volcanic eruptions. | D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels. |
| A．More volcanoes will throw out. |
| B．More solar energy will go into space. |
| C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world. |
| D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm. |
| A．He thinks more research remains to be done. |
| B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth. |
| C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production. |
| D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention. |
| A．The rainfall pattern of a region. |
| B．The modest drop in temperature. |
| C．The number of extreme weather events. |
| D．The injection amount of aerosol. |
10 . As heat waves continue to ravage the planet, air conditioners are becoming more and more common. However, these "active" cooling devices are posing problems because the electricity consumption which most people are concerned about and the release of ozone-damaging chemicals worsen the greenhouse gas effect, resulting in the creation of heat islands and further thermal pollution. Therefore, "passive" cooling, which doesn't have such effects, has attracted considerable attention from both scientists and ordinary people in recent years.
In a recent study, a team of researchers from China and US presented an eco-friendly, low-cost smart coating to keep buildings cooler while consuming zero electricity. Infrared radiation-based passive cooling has been investigated since 2014, but challenges, mainly the expensive and unsustainable design, have greatly limited their large-scale and widespread application. Besides, the imbalance in cooling ability of these coatings during the day and night tends to lead to great day-night temperature differences as more heat is lost than gained at night.
The solution therefore requires a "smart" mechanism that can both enhance daytime cooling and minimize nighttime heat loss. To do this, the researchers created a new smart coating comprised of conventional building materials, including titanium dioxide nanoparticles, fluorescent microparticles, and glass microspheres that were engineered to reflect most of the sunlight. Specifically, the titanium dioxide particles effectively reflect sunlight through light scattering（撒播）while the fluorescent particles increase the amount of reflection by changing the absorbed sunlight into fluorescence emissions, which drive more heat away from the building. Meanwhile, the glass microspheres re-send mid-infrared broadband radiation, allowing not only heat loss, but allowing heat exchange to take place between the building and the sky.
The coating was tested on a model concrete building. Through this efficient heat exchange with the sky, daytime cooling was strengthened while nighttime cooling was reduced. The building's inside temperature was always maintained at around 26℃, even when the out-side temperature varied from 24℃ to 37℃ during the day. We believe this new coating will make it to commercialization soon, enabling a sustainable, passive cooling technology that could help to fight climate change and the global energy crisis.
1. What is the virtue of passive cooling?| A．It is simple to design. | B．It uses no chemicals. |
| C．It is smart. | D．It uses no power. |
| A．It was hard to design. |
| B．Its material was hard to produce. |
| C．Its heat loss and cooling are imbalanced. |
| D．It wasn't tested on a model concrete building. |
| A．Metal. | B．System. | C．Platform. | D．Building. |
| A．The principle of air-conditioning. |
| B．The differences between active and passive cooling. |
| C．A new coating to keep buildings cool without electricity. |
| D．A new building to maintain its inside temperature without electricity. |
