1 . Rachel Carson was concerned about what was happenig to the environment. So in her book Silent Spring, she warned that some chemicals were poisoning the air, the water, the earth, and all its creatures. She imagined a time when spring would not bring the rebirth of flowers, trees, and the songs of birds. The book became a bestseller, and Ms. Carson was in great demand as a speaker. People lisened to her because what she said made sense, and because she was a scientist who knew her facts.
Rachel Carson was primarily interested in the world of sea and shore, so she became a marine biologst for the government. She studied and recorded facts about the sea' s plant and animal life, their special characteristics, and the nature of their environments. In 1951, she wrote The Sea Around Us, which brought her honors, fame, and respect around the world.
Ms. Carson then devoted herself full-time to research and writing. One thing much on her mind was the effect of modern technology on the natural environment. One day, a distressed friend wrote her to say that a plane spraying(喷洒) DDT had flown over her yard, and the next day several birds lay dead. Carson decided to act.
For four years she studied the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in the United States, and then she wrote Silent Spring.
In her book Ms. Carson said that these pesticides would harm much more than insects. She explained that these poisons would pollute the environment. “Even if their effects are not immediately observable, they remain for years in the water and the soil, and they become part of the food eaten by animals and humans.
Besides, after a time, insects develop immunity to pesticides,” she said.
Recent studies have shown that pesticides can affect human brainwave activity and cause loss of memory and inability to concentrate. We should still remember Rachel Carson’s words, “I think we are challenged as we have never been challenged before to prove our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
1. Silent Spring is a book that__________| A．aims to raise people’s environmental awareness |
| B．stresses the importance of the cycle of nature |
| C．describes the author' s childhood experiences |
| D．asks people to enjoy the beauty of spring |
| A．curious | B．humorous | C．excited | D．worried |
| A．became world-famous due to Silent Spring |
| B．warned against the use of chemicals to kill insects |
| C．had a good knowledge of the planets in the universe |
| D．created a system for improving human brainwave activity |
| A．we should prove ourselves to be the ruler of this world |
| B．it's a chance for us to prove our mastery of nature |
| C．it's time for us to think about what we have done |
| D．settling on the earth is a challenge for humans |
2 . Man has
Man destroys nature by polluting the air. That’s probably the greatest danger
Biologists have
The deer multiplied(繁殖) until there were as many as 40,000 on the island. They destroyed
| A．lovely | B．strange | C．many | D．much |
| A．harms | B．breaks | C．injury | D．destroys |
| A．stems | B．branches | C．leaves | D．flowers |
| A．what | B．how | C．why | D．when |
| A．still | B．ever | C．even | D．quite |
| A．which | B．that | C．what | D．how |
| A．years | B．meetings | C．parties | D．holidays |
| A．to | B．of | C．about | D．for |
| A．waters | B．smells | C．gases | D．whistles |
| A．effects on | B．efforts for | C．reasons for | D．causes of |
| A．poor | B．weak | C．strong | D．ill |
| A．studied | B．developed | C．invented | D．discovered |
| A．valuable | B．need | C．necessary | D．helped |
| A．consider | B．think it | C．regard | D．sound |
| A．field | B．land | C．mountain | D．island |
| A．left | B．got | C．reached to | D．arrived in |
| A．a whole | B．most | C．more | D．more much |
| A．plants | B．rice | C．vegetation | D．food |
| A．Nobody | B．Anybody | C．Somebody | D．Everybody |
| A．got | B．went | C．arrive | D．did |
3 . Throughout Europe golf has been popular for many years. A recent report says that in Great Britain alone, 700 new golf courses (球场) will have to be built over the next ten years to satisfy people’s demand.
This is all good news for golf lovers, but it worries those who want to protect the environment. Their argument is that the new courses are disturbing the balance of nature. Woods, ponds and fields are being dug up to make way for the courses. The birds and animals that used to live there are being killed or forced to leave. The amount of water that a club uses to keep its course in good condition is reducing the amount of water available for industrial and other uses. The chemicals used to control insects are sinking into the underground water.
There may be some truth in this, but it is not the whole truth. The days are long past when building of any kind was allowed in beautiful places with no thought for the environment. Planning permission, nowadays, is as strict for golf courses as it is for any other type of development. Before any such project is given the go-ahead, many factors are studied. It is only when it is clear that no harm will be done to the area that the builders are allowed to move in.
A strong case can even be made that golf courses are actually good for the areas where they are built. Courses are built in areas which are not areas of natural beauty. The new courses often make the area livelier. To make holes more difficult, trees are planted and lakes are filled in around greens. Not surprisingly perhaps, it is not unusual to find that, within months of a course being completed, a whole variety of animals and birds have moved in.
Obviously, careful thought has to go into the design of the new courses. As few changes as possible should be made to the natural environment. The wild-life and woods should also be protected. But this can be, and is being, done. There is no reason why golfers and nature cannot live peacefully together.
1. What is TRUE about building a new golf course nowadays?| A．It takes up too much land. |
| B．A lot of trees have to be cut down. |
| C．It is easy to get planning taken into consideration. |
| D．Many things will be taken into consideration. |
| A．That a whole variety of animals and birds have moved in the courses is uncommon. |
| B．Only when it is clear that no harm will be done to the area, are the builders allowed to move in. |
| C．Golf courses could make local areas look beautiful. |
| D．Golf courses’ construction wastes too much water and money. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
4 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.
Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sights on our “consumer culture”. Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day are growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.
We clearly have a growing resource problem. The produces we make, buy, and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live. But to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.
While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. For most, Christmas isn’t an add-on to an already heavy shopping year. In fact, it is likely the only time of year many have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.
This is particularly, true for Boxing Day, often the target of the strongest derision(嘲弄) by anti-consumerists. While we may laugh at the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the one chance to buy items they’ve needed all year. As Leigh Phillips argues, “this is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”
Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account that those shopping on Boxing Day are only a small part of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring such people as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own￡1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?
Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choices, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problems. It is no wonder one is changing their behaviours—or that environmental destruction continues without any reduction in intensity.
1. It is indicated in the 1st paragraph that during the holiday season, many consumers .| A．ignore resource problems |
| B．are fascinated with presents |
| C．are encouraged to spend less |
| D．show great interest in the movement. |
| A．has targeted the wrong persons |
| B．has achieved its intended purposes |
| C．has taken environment-friendly measures |
| D．has benefited both consumers and producers |
| A．madness about life choices |
| B．discontent with rich lifestyle |
| C．ignorance about the real cause |
| D．disrespect for holiday shoppers |
| A．anything less than a responsibility | B．nothing more than a bias |
| C．indicative of environmental awareness | D．unacceptable to ordinary people |
A small town in England is teaching the world that it is important
6 . The national movement to get rid of plastic bags is gaining steam — with more than 240 cities and counties passing laws that ban or tax them since 2007 in the US. But these bans may be hurting the environment more than helping it.
University of Sydney economist Rebecca Taylor and colleagues compared bag use in cities with bans with those without them. For six months, they spent weekends in grocery stores recording the types of bags people carried out.
Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to: People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic garbage per year. But people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog waste, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually grew sharply after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says.
Garbage bags are thick and use more plastic than typical shopping bags. "So about 30 percent of the plastic that was reduced by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags," Taylor says. On top of that, cities that banned plastic bags saw a surge in the use of paper bags, which she estimates（估计）resulted in about 80 million pounds of extra paper garbage per year.
A bunch of studies find that paper bags are actually worse for the environment. They require cutting down and processing trees, which involves lots of water, toxic chemicals and fuel. While paper is biodegradable(可生物降解的) and avoids some of the problems of plastic, Taylor says, the huge increase of paper means banning plastic shopping bags increases greenhouse gas emissions(排放).
The Danish government recently did a study that took into account environmental impacts（影响）beyond simply greenhouse gas emissions, including water use, damage to ecosystems and air pollution. These factors make cloth bags even worse. They estimate you would have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times more than a plastic grocery bag to make using it better for the environment.
1. What is main idea of the passage?| A．Banning plastic bags is gaining popularity worldwide. |
| B．Banning plastic has great influence on people’s life. |
| C．Banning plastic increases the use of pager and cloth bags. |
| D．Banning plastic may harm rather than help the environment. |
| A．Plastic bags are no longer needed. |
| B．People began to reuse their plastic bags. |
| C．The amount of garbage is even greater. |
| D．Most of the reduced plastic returns in garbage bags. |
| A．They are not as biodegradable as plastic bags. |
| B．It hurts the environment more to make them. |
| C．They can’t be reused as many times as plastic bags. |
| D．They are much thicker than plastic bags. |
| A．Sharp increase. | B．Fast development. |
| C．Tight control. | D．Sharp decrease. |
7 . Government in Tibet have denied the permanent(永久的) closure of Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve.
The announcement came after a report went viral online claiming the base camp of the world's highest mountain was “permanently closed due to heavy pollution” and caused a universal misunderstanding.
Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve was set up in 1988. Covering an area of more than 33, 800 square km, it is home to one of the world's most weak ecosystems(生态系统).
Kelsang, deputy director of the reserves administration, said ordinary tourists are allowed to visit areas around Rongpo Monastery, almost 5,000 meters above sea level. As for travelers who have a climbing permit, they can go to the base camp at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The mountaineering activities have been permitted by the regional forestry department.
To conserve the environment surrounding Mount Qomolangma, China carried out three major clean-ups at an altitude of 5, 200 meters and above last spring, collecting eight tonnes of household wastes, human wastes and mountaineering trash. This year, the clean-up will continue, and the remains of mountaineering victims(受害者) above 8,000 meters will be centrally dealt with for the first time. Meanwhile, the number of people who stay at the base camp will be kept under 300.
Recently, there are 85 wildlife protectors in the reserve, and 1,000 herders have part-time jobs going around and cleaning up garbage.
These measures aim to strike a balance between various demands such as environmental protection, local poverty relief, mountaineering and education, said Wang Shen, county chief of Dingri at the mountain foot.
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined words “went viral” in Paragraph 2 ?| A．Spread wild. | B．Block out. | C．Gave away. | D．Shoot up. |
| A．Most tourists are allowed to visit the base camp. |
| B．Permit is a must for visitors going to the base camp. |
| C．The mountaineering activities are not allowed these days. |
| D．The areas above 5,200 meters are open to everyone. |
| A．To provide a much easier path for mountaineers. |
| B．To keep mountaineering activities going smooth. |
| C．To remove the remains of mountaineering victims. |
| D．To protect the environment of Mount Qomolangma. |
| A．300 | B．1000 | C．85 | D．1085 |
8 . Escaping predators (食肉动物), digestion and other animal activities—including those of humans—require oxygen. But that essential ingredient is no longer so easy for marine life to obtain, several new studies reveal.
In the past decade ocean oxygen levels have taken a dive—an alarming trend that is linked to climate change, says Andreas Oschlies, an oceanographer at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Germany, whose team tracks ocean oxygen levels worldwide. “We were surprised by the intensity of the changes we saw, how rapidly oxygen is going down in the ocean and how large the effects on marine ecosystems are,” he says. It is no surprise to scientists that warming oceans are losing oxygen, but the scale of the drop calls for urgent attention. Oxygen levels in some tropical (热带的) regions have dropped by an astonishing 40 percent in the last 50 years, some recent studies reveal. Levels have dropped less significantly elsewhere, with an average loss of 2 percent globally.
A warming ocean loses oxygen for two reasons: First, the warmer a liquid becomes, the less gas it can hold. That is why carbonated drinks go flat faster when left in the sun. Second, as polar sea ice melts, it forms a layer of water above colder, more salty sea waters. This process creates a sort of lid that can keep currents from mixing surface water down to deeper depths. And because all oxygen enters the surface, less mixing means less of it at depth.
Ocean animals large and small, however, respond to even slight changes in oxygen by seeking refuge in higher oxygen zones or by adjusting behavior, Oschlies and others in his field have found. These adjustments can expose animals to new predators or force them into food-scarce regions. Climate change already poses serious problems for marine life, such as ocean acidification, but deoxygenation is the most pressing issue facing sea animals today, Oschlies says. After all, he says, “they all have to breathe.”
Aside from food web problems, animals face various other physiological challenges as their bodies adjust to lower oxygen levels. Chinese shrimp (虾) move their tails less vigorously to preserve energy in lower oxygen environments. Some creatures, such as jellyfishes, are more tolerant of low oxygen than others are. But all animals will feel the impact of deoxygenation because they all have evolved their oxygen capacity for a reason, says Oschlies. “Any drop in oxygen is going to damage survivability and performance,” he says.
1. According to the first two paragraphs, what worries scientists the most?| A．The worsening deoxygenation in the warming ocean. |
| B．The survival of predators and various marine animals. |
| C．The alarmingly changeable oxygen levels in the ocean. |
| D．The lack of attention to the warming of tropical oceans. |
| A．Polar ice melting consumes much oxygen in the ocean. |
| B．Global warming reduces the amount of oxygen in the air. |
| C．The surface polar ice water prevents oxygen going down. |
| D．Salty water holds less gas in the increasingly warmer ocean. |
| A．Ocean deoxygenation changes some animals’ natural territories. |
| B．Ocean acidification is more serious a problem than deoxygenation. |
| C．Not all ocean animals are bothered by the decreasing oxygen levels. |
| D．Some animals reduce their movements in order to absorb more oxygen. |
| A．The Oxygen Levels of Marine Life | B．Ocean Warming Affects Food Web |
| C．The Survivability of Ocean Animals | D．The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath |
9 . Pollution’s great effects on the environment have become more obvious in recent years, leading to a movement to promote energy efficiency（效率）, and a reduction in air and water pollution. Most scientists agree that such changes are necessary to protect our environment from further harm.
Green buildings use less energy, water, create less waste, and are healthier to live, work, and go to school in than standard buildings. Builders of green buildings use techniques that use resources more efficiently during the entire building cycle — construction, restoration, operation, maintenance（维护）and removal — than those who construct more regular buildings.
The environmental benefits of green buildings include the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, better air and water quality, less waste flowing into streams, and the protection of natural resources. Green buildings can also result in lower operating costs because they typically use less energy and fewer materials and improve indoor air quality, improving the health of people who live in such buildings.
The process of building green includes technical and artistic planning with nature protection in mind. Building designs often reflect the surrounding environment and natural resources and use renewable building materials such as bamboo and straw. In addition, recycled resources found locally are used for green buildings, reducing the cost and air pollution associated with transporting materials over long distances.
Careful site selection is important to reduce the human effect on the surrounding environment. For example, placing a structure in an area that allows it to take advantage of cool wind and sunlight can reduce energy use and expenses. More energy and expenses are needed for larger buildings as well, so it is important to build small ones.
The green roof is another feature of green buildings that reduce energy use and costs. These roofs are partly or completely covered with plants, which help to keep heating and cooling costs low, prevent water running off and deal with pollutants.
Other features of green buildings often include energy and water conservation, recycling, and waste reduction. In addition, renewable energy resources such as solar power, hydropower and wind power are used for heat and electricity, which greatly reduces costs and decreases the effect on the environment.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The necessity of promoting energy efficiency. |
| B．The process of building green buildings. |
| C．The benefits and features of green buildings. |
| D．Green buildings’ effects on the environment. |
| A．produce no waste | B．only use clean energy |
| C．are made of recycled materials | D．use energy and resources more efficiently |
| A．They only rely on solar power for heat and electricity. |
| B．Small ones are less efficient in energy use than larger ones. |
| C．When we are building them the ecosystem has to be considered. |
| D．They are difficult to maintain and thus need more operating costs. |
| A．To fit the surrounding environment well. | B．To keep warm. |
| C．To collect nature water. | D．To lower costs. |
Water is the driving force of all nature, Leonardo da Vinci claimed. Unfortunately for our planet, water supplies are now running dry at an alarming rate. The world’s population continues to increase but that rise in number has not been matched by adequate supplies of fresh water. Reports show that more than a billion individuals — one in seven people on the planet — now lack access to safe drinking water.
In Sao Paulo, a Brazilian city, drought got so bad that residents began drilling through basement floors and car parks to try to reach groundwater. Officials in this city warned that rationing（配给制）of water supplies was likely soon. Citizens in Sao Paulo might have access to water for only two days a week. In California, US, officials have shown that the state has entered its fourth year of drought. At the same time, its per capita（人均）water use has continued to rise.
【写作内容】
1.用约30词概括上述信息的主要内容；
2.结合上述信息及日常生活，简要分析导致全球淡水资源短缺的主要原因（不少于两点）；
3.谈谈在日常生活中我们应如何保护淡水资源（不少于两点）。
【写作要求】
1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
【评分标准】
内容完整。语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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