China will
Through years of efforts, China has effectively protected 90 percent of
2 . Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They bring with them lots of waste. The
Hearing these stories, I’m
However, I soon discovered that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of
The best of a Kilimanjaro
Does Kilimanjaro deserve its
A.crowds | B.stories | C.reporters | D.settlements |
A.age | B.face | C.name | D.position |
A.crazy | B.doubtful | C.serious | D.pessimistic |
A.grass | B.stones | C.camps | D.equipment |
A.new | B.special | C.necessary | D.significant |
A.paying off | B.blowing up | C.fading away | D.spreading out |
A.experiment | B.experience | C.atmosphere | D.intervention |
A.view | B.reason | C.quality | D.purpose |
A.holding on to | B.going back to | C.living up to | D.giving way to |
A.changes | B.permits | C.improves | D.dominates |
A.add | B.match | C.count | D.imagine |
A.lake | B.road | C.desert | D.village |
A.Directly | B.Finally | C.Obviously | D.Frequently |
A.fresh | B.little | C.artificial | D.permanent |
A.reward | B.ecology | C.history | D.reputation |
3 . If you look at the dynamic “Global Temperatures” map on NASA’s website, you can see the historic temperature change over time across the planet as the timeline goes from 1880 to the modern day. By 2019, the entire planet is in red, orange, and yellow colors, indicating temperatures much higher than the historical average in every country and human inhabitance.
If the timeline went to 2023, the map would look even worse. That’s because the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever, according to ocean monitors. July was the hottest month in recorded history. Next July could be worse. Unless we do something quickly, we face dealing with more and more dangerous and expensive natural disasters in the future.
Forest fires sent smoke from Canada across the North American continent, causing New York City to have the worst air quality in its recorded history. Heavy rainstorms fell on Vermont and the Northeastern United States in just a couple of days in the middle of July, which exceeded the amount that area would usually receive in two months and caused extreme damage to homes and businesses. Around the same time, flash flooding in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — north of Philadelphia — killed nearly a dozen people.
Erich Fischer, a researcher specializing in climate studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is concerned that natural disasters could get much worse in the future—and in ways we cannot predict. He called for a “strike for climate justice,” which actually took place on Sept. 15, 2023. “The strategy needs to be twofold (双重的) . We need to decrease carbon emissions as much as realistically possible. That is already happening with people using electric cars and other green technologies. At the same time, we also need to find ways to predict the risk of natural disasters ahead of time,” said Erich Fischer.
1. Why does the writer mention the data on NASA’s website in paragraph 1?A.To explain a concept. | B.To introduce a topic. |
C.To provide a solution. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.The severity of natural disasters. | B.The worst air quality in New York City. |
C.The extreme damage by flash flooding. | D.The cause of the forests fires in Canada. |
A.He advocated a twofold strategy. |
B.He suggested forbidding carbon emissions. |
C.He required people to use more electric cars. |
D.He emphasized the awareness of climate changes. |
A.The Hottest Month in History | B.Natural Disasters in the World |
C.Extreme Weather Could Get Worse | D.Green Technology Would be Needed |
4 . Architects often spend months or even years perfecting a design to express their ideas more clearly, convey additional information, or outline the right proportions for a building. However, the urgent issue of climate change is placing new demands on their work. For example, in July, Super Typhoon Doksuri battered China, affecting more than 2.66 million people in Fujian Province alone.
Green architecture that conserves energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions offers a solution, and concerted efforts have been made in diverse research fields over the past three decades to minimize heat loss. In addition, new buildings have to be tailored to the needs of people’s lifestyles.
Ren Jun, a professor at Tianjin University’s School of Architecture, who designed the first near-zero energy house in China in December 2019, said, “You can construct low-energy, environmentally-friendly houses, but if the interior design and environmental quality don’t meet residents’ requirements, these properties won’t be suitable to live in.”
The near-zero energy house, located-in Banbidian village in Beijing’s southern district of Daxing, won the International Design Award in the United States in January last year. The 400-square-meter property, which stands at the entrance to the village, runs on solar power gathered from rooftop panels, with the addition of a small amount of power from the grid (电网).
Ren said the first obstacle to conserving energy in the property was heat retention, which he attempted to achieve by keeping the indoor temperature at a certain level. The property is divided into five areas: a solar garden in the front yard, a central lounge, a water courtyard, a sponge zone, and a back room. For the exterior walls, Ren used three types of insulation (隔热层), including plastic foam, each about 25 centimeters thick.
Ren also looked for ways to deal with emissions at the house. He decided to install a ventilator, which pipes air that is polluted and replaces it with fresh air from outside in every room at the property.
Ren said it would take three to five years before more ultralow or near-zero energy buildings appeared in Chinese cities.
1. Which is not an important factor for designing green houses?A.Energy consumption. | B.Carbon emission. |
C.People’s lifestyle. | D.Architecture style. |
A.The house consumes little electricity. |
B.The house is deliberately designed to keep heat. |
C.The house is equipped with many intelligent facilities. |
D.The house is the first International Design Award-winning building in China. |
A.He designed the house in five stories to trap heat in it. |
B.He applied 75 centimeters of plastic foam to exterior walls. |
C.He tailored the interior design to the demand of local people. |
D.He installed a ventilator to cut down carbon dioxide emissions. |
A.Green Homes Offer Hope amid Climate Change |
B.Green Houses Feature Near-Zero Energy Consumption |
C.Ren Jun Won the International Design Award |
D.China Strives for Low Carbon Strategy with Green Houses |
5 . Bumblebees are vanishing at a rate consistent with widespread extinction, and climate change is playing a big role. The analysis comes from a new study published in the journal Science today.
The authors found that the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place within North America and Europe has dropped by an average of 30 percent as temperatures have risen.
Pesticides, habitat loss, and pathogens(病原体) have already hit bumblebee populations hard. The new study, however, is able to isolate the effect that hotter temperatures are having on bumblebees. Sadly, bees are having a hard time adapting to a warming world. “If things continue along the path without any change, then we can really quickly start to see a lot of these species being lost forever,” lead author of the study Peter Soroye tells The Verge.
That’s not just a tragedy for the bees. It’s also bad news for all the plants that they pollinate and for humans who eat the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. “We also lose out on a lot of color on our plates,” Soroye says. “Tomatoes, squash, and berries are just some of the crops we can thank bees for pollinating. Animal pollinators like bees, birds, and butterflies could be responsible for up to 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat,” the US Department of Agriculture says.
For this study, Soroye and colleagues examined data from 1900 to 2015 on 66 species of bumblebees across North America and Europe. They mapped the places bees called home and how their distribution changed over time. They found that bees were vanishing in the areas that had heated up beyond the limit in which the bumblebees had historically been able to survive.
Some bee populations are colonizing new territories that were previously too cold. But those gains are overshadowed by losses in areas where the bees once thrived but are now too hot.
1. What is bumblebees’ main struggle?A.Habitat loss | B.Climate change | C.Human activities | D.Virus treat |
A.Humans can barely strive to save bumblebees from extinction. |
B.Bumblebees will inevitably die out some day. |
C.Bumblebees serve as a delicacy on our plates. |
D.Human’s lives are tightly linked to bumblebees’. |
A.Animal pollinators eat up 1 out of 3 of our food. |
B.Peter Soroye’s study started from 1900 and lasted 25 years. |
C.Bumblebees can not be accustomed to the places they used to live in. |
D.Bumblebees are more used to colder weather. |
A.The negative effects outweigh the positive ones. | B.No cold areas are left for Bumblebees. |
C.The losses are beyond estimation. | D.Bumblebees will have a rather bright future. |
6 . City air is in a sorry state. It is dirty and hot. Outdoor pollution kills 4.2m people a year, according to the World Health Organization. Concrete and tarmac, meanwhile, absorb the sun’s rays rather than reflecting them back into space, and also
A possible answer to the twin problems of pollution and heat is trees. Their leaves may destroy at least some chemical pollutants and they certainly
To cool an area effectively, trees must be planted in quantity. Two years ago, researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that American cities need 40% tree
One group of botanists believe they have at least a partial
Dr Miyawaki’s insight was to deconstruct and rebuild the process of ecological succession, by which
Dr Miyawaki has
If your goal is to better your
A.thrive | B.nourish | C.displace | D.raise |
A.assessment | B.maintenance | C.spread | D.replacement |
A.release | B.trap | C.reflect | D.dissolve |
A.attraction | B.shadow | C.interaction | D.shade |
A.consumption | B.coverage | C.interval | D.conservation |
A.blessed | B.lined | C.piled | D.fascinated |
A.treatment | B.obstacle | C.warning | D.solution |
A.unnoticed | B.unpromising | C.untested | D.unfading |
A.criticism | B.favor | C.sponsor | D.anxiety |
A.bare | B.graceful | C.faint | D.mysterious |
A.highlights | B.skips | C.improves | D.pushes |
A.accessed | B.spotted | C.supervised | D.ranked |
A.disturbing | B.balancing | C.following | D.reducing |
A.for example | B.in essence | C.on the other hand | D.after all |
A.suburban | B.leisure | C.scenic | D.immediate |
1.外卖垃圾的现状;
2.原因分析;
3.建议和号召。
注意:
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
参考词汇:外卖food delivery
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8 . The oil and gas industry may be emitting about three-times the amount of climate-warming methane than government estimates show, according to a new study from Stanford University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other organizations in Nature. Methane (甲烷) is the main component of natural gas and among the greenhouse gases heating the planet, which is produced when extracting crude oil.
Specific measurements varied from a low of less than 1%, or about what the Environmental Protection Agency estimates, at a site in Pennsylvania to a high of nearly 10% in New Mexico. Researchers found the higher percentages of methane released generally had something in common. “These are places where production is mostly focusing on oil,” says Evan Sherwin, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. But oil and gas often come out of the ground together, and if there wasn’t a way to transport the less-valuable gas to where it could be sold, leaks were higher.
In Pennsylvania, by contrast, drillers are focused on producing natural gas, and there, very little of the methane was wasted. That complicates an argument many in the industry have made, generally in opposition to tighter government regulations on methane. They say drillers have the incentive to capture gas leaks so they can sell the fossil fuel. But that’s not always possible, if industry hasn’t built the pipelines and other infrastructure to get the gas to consumers. In this study, researchers estimate the industry releases about 6.2 million tons of methane a year, valued at $1.08 billion.
“Emissions of methane from fossil fuel operations remain unacceptably high,” said Tim Gould, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, during a Tuesday call with reporters. The organization’s Global Methane Tracker shows methane from the energy sector was near the record high level in 2023.
Despite that, the IEA concludes that if countries fully implement existing pledges on methane reductions, that would make significant progress toward achieving global climate goals. “2024 could mark a turning point and policies are starting to be put into place. Greater transparency is coming. Awareness is spreading and we have enhanced ability to track large leaks and act quickly to shut them down,” Gould said. Gould said he hopes to have good news to share, about a reduction in methane emissions, next year.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?A.Various measures are taken to restrict the release of methane. |
B.The low value of the gas in part leads to the high leak of the methane. |
C.The more focused on the production of the gas, the higher the methane release |
D.The percentage of methane in developing countries is higher than in developed countries |
A.Equipment. | B.Productivity. | C.Drive. | D.Assessment. |
A.Caution: Methane emission gives rise to serious global warming. |
B.Methane emissions: Oil and gas industry’s hidden impact. |
C.Measures taken to cut back on methane emissions. |
D.Methane is to blame for the climate change. |
A.Critical. | B.Dismissive. | C.Doubtful. | D.Optimistic. |
Spotted lanternflies (斑点灯笼蝇) are an invasive species. Since 2014, they have been seen all across the eastern United States. The insects are harmful to many plants, and can disturb entire ecosystems. State officials have urged people to kill spotted lanternflies wherever they see them.
When Joy saw the pests in her school courtyard, she thought she had to do something. “I’ve always wanted to take environmental action,” she says, “and show people that no one is ever too small to make a difference.”
So she started a club called Squash (压扁). Its mission is to kill spotted lanternflies around the school. More than 20 students have joined. At first, they trapped the pests in empty water bottles and then squashed them. In a single day, the club managed to kill more than a hundred spotted lanternflies.
Joy wanted to do more. With research, she discovered a plant called milkweed. It’s nutritious for pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as monarch butterflies but poisonous to spotted lanternflies. Joy thought that using milkweed along with the traps made specifically for spotted lanternflies would be a better way to kill them. The issue was that they didn’t have enough money to buy milkweed and the traps.
The kids were hoping to raise money for their school to address the big problem. Their goal was to raise $200, the cost of the equipment needed to kill spotted lanternflies around their school. They got part of the way there, with about $75. They decided to attract more fundraisers. “We discovered that if you find your voice,” Joy says, “you can do much more.”
In May, Joy and other students from Squash gathered in Columbus Park, in New York City. They set up a table with lemonade, cookies, and origami figures for sale. The money will be used to buy milkweed and the traps.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
To attract more attention, the students divided their work into various roles.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the day progressed, the students’ efforts paid off.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?A.The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
B.The burden of population growth on the planet. |
C.The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
D.The great impact of climate change on food. |
A.A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
B.It would take a long term to have an effect. |
C.It is only workable on a small scale. |
D.It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
A.It is highly profitable. |
B.It is easy to carry out. |
C.It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
D.It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
A.How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
B.How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
C.How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
D.How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |