1. 你的观点;
2. 你的建议。
参考词汇:垃圾分类garbage classification
注意:
1. 词数80左右;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
3. 开头结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Hello, everyone!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you!
The Sixth Extinction (灭绝)
Extinctions, where entire species are wiped out, are not unusual in our Earth’s history. In fact, over 90 percent of all species that ever lived are now extinct. In the last 500 million years, there have been five times when life on Earth has almost ended. These include the third mass extinction, known as the “Great Dying”, which killed 90% to 96% of all species. And the fifth event, which occurred 66 million years ago, caused the death of the dinosaurs. The reasons for extinctions are varied. According to scientists, they include volcanic eruptions, asteroids (小行星) hitting the Earth from space, changes in sea levels, the decrease of the oxygen content of the sea and global warming. Many scientists say we are now entering the Earth’s sixth mass extinction. This time, human activity will be to blame.
Although it is not unusual for species to die out naturally, the rate at which this is now happening is cause for concern. A 2015 study by scientists who were based at Brown University and Duke University in the US, looked at how quickly species die out due to natural causes, that is, the “background extinction rate”. They found that human activity is causing species to die out 1, 000 times faster than normal. There is a long list of reasons why so many species are dying out: air and water pollution, forests being destroyed, factory farming and overfishing. It is clear that human activity has negatively affected all other species on Earth, including animals and plants.
If a sixth mass extinction occurs, scientists who have studied the issue believe that up to three quarters of all species on Earth could die out. Of course, as we humans depend on so many species for our survival, we would also be at risk of dying out. Our world and our lives depend on the balance in nature between animals and plants. Without forests, we would have no air to breathe and without clean water we would be unable to survive.
Can a sixth extinction be avoided? Experts say that it is not yet too late, if we take action now. If we want to survive, we need to stop destroying the planet that we live on and start to protect it.
1. What are the reasons for extinction in the history?2. Why does the writer believe we will probably die out if 3/4 of the Earth’s species die out?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
It is not unusual for species to die out naturally, so we human beings are not to blame.
4. What actions can we take to avoid the sixth extinction? (In about 40 words)
1. What do charity workers say about the water?
A.It’s extremely clean. | B.It’s very cheap. | C.It’s plentiful. |
A.It started running last month. |
B.It has benefited over 100,000 people. |
C.It produces 8,000 litres of water daily. |
A.Lack of rain. | B.Population. | C.Pollution. |
A.A man-made pond. | B.A local river. | C.The sea. |
1. 环境问题的严峻性和保护环境的必要性;
2. 作为学生如何为环境保护尽自己一份力;
3. 发出倡议。
注意:1. 词数在100词左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3. 题目已为你写好,不计入总词数。
Calling for the protection of our environment
Dear fellow students,World Environment Day, falling on the fifth, June, is around the corner.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________提示:1. 地球的现状和存在的问题;
2. 人们在“地球日”这天用什么行动关爱地球;
3. 号召人们把每一天都当作地球日,天天关爱地球。
Making Every Day Earth Day
Now the earth is in bad condition.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 . Imagine a world without insects. It might sound good at first without creepy-crawly bugs and annoying flies in your apartment. However, the consequences would be disastrous.
The number of insects has dropped by more than half in the past decades, according to British biologist Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse. As insects make up most of the known species on this planet, this data is not good news.
Insects are indeed on the path to extinction, according to the first global scientific review of insect population decline, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation in January 2019. The researchers say intensive agriculture has been the main cause of the decline. Pesticides (杀虫剂), in particular, destroy insect habitats. Urbanization and climate change are also significant factors. “Unless we convert our ways of producing food, insects will go down the path of extinction in a few decades.”
What would happen to Earth without insects? It’s almost impossible to predict, but the consequences would be far—reaching. We need insects to pollinate (授粉) crops, recycle plant and animal material, keep the soil healthy and much more. Without insects, many animals would have nothing to eat, and the predators (捕食者) of those animals would go hungry as well. The ecosystem would be thrown off balance.
“If insect species losses cannot be halted, this will have catastrophic consequences for both the planet’s ecosystems and for the survival of mankind,” said Sanchez-Bayo, one of the authors of the review. The first step to halt this process is “to engender a society that values the natural world, both for what it does for us and for its own sake”, Sanchez—Bayo suggests. “The obvious place to start is with our children, encouraging environmental awareness from an early age.”
1. What’s people’s general impression of insects?A.Quite unpleasant. | B.Very interesting. |
C.Extremely helpful. | D.Unexpectedly disastrous. |
A.Change. | B.Abandon. | C.Expand. | D.Simplify. |
A.Insects ensure the earth’s diversity. |
B.Insects maintain the earth ecosystem. |
C.Insects make the soil dry and healthy. |
D.Insects help slow down climate change. |
A.Exploit nature in a gentle way. |
B.Change our way of producing food. |
C.Educate younger generation to be aware of it. |
D.Provide insects with enough habitats and food. |
7 . You don’t need to travel long distances to find pleasure in nature
The Greek historian Herodotus is said to have made one of the earliest lists of seven wonders of the world. These were man-made structures, including the still mysterious feat of ancient horticulture known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. More recent times saw natural alternatives to these marvels of classical architecture proposed: waterfalls, mountains, canyons, reefs.
As environmental consciousness has risen in the west, attitudes to such sightseeing have changed. Yes, it is thrilling to visit remote forests or spot rare species. But travelling to far-flung destinations is carbon-intensive when flights or long road journeys are involved, and conservation can be made more difficult as well as assisted by sightseers. There is a balance to be struck, and ethical governments and businesses around the world try to maximize the benefits while minimizing the harms.
Most of us, in the rich countries where people take most holidays, understand better than ever that there are costs as well as benefits associated with exploring. One of the six pledges proposed by an environmental campaign launched last month, The Jump, is to “holiday local”, taking short-haul flights once every three years and long-haul flights very rarely. Fortunately, the UK’s 15 national parks, 86 areas of outstanding natural beauty (known in Scotland as national scenic areas), and countless other landscapes that are without formal status, but beloved nonetheless, mean that there is no shortage of special places for domestic nature tourists to visit—while a host of European beauty spots are accessible by rail.
One recent survey found that Windsor Great Park and Kew have become Britain’s most popular attractions, while Covid has created difficulties for indoor spaces which do not apply to outdoor ones.
A.Colombia, for example, recently introduced laws aimed at promoting sustainable tourism. |
B.Visitor numbers at wildlife trusts are high, with waiting lists for beaver-spotting. |
C.Travelling, especially air travel, is a luxury that is bad for the environment. |
D.Dramatic landscapes, features and wildlife, and the pleasure and excitement they offer to visitors, are staples of tourism. |
E.Today, the tourism sector has become one of the great economic engines in many countries, forming part of the international political agenda. |
F.This is not to minimize the destruction of nature that is also taking place. |
8 . Astypalea, a butterfly-shaped island in the central Aegean, hopes to become Greece’s first carbon-free tourist destination. Under a deal with the government, Volkswagen (大众汽车), has donated several new electric vehicles for use by Astypalea’s public services. It will sell others at cost price to its 1, 200 residents. In return, the government has largely increased subsidies (补贴) for the islanders to buy electric cars and will build a hybrid(混合的) solar and wind power plant to replace those polluting generators.
Unlike other nearby islands, Astypalea is not connected to Greece’s electricity system. With only 3, 000 rooms for visitors in small hotels or flats, tourism is still low-key. Many residents make a living in the old-fashioned way: raising goats, keeping bees and fishing. The island was selected for Volkswagen’s e-mobility experiment after Nikos Komineas, the go-ahead mayor, contacted the transport ministry for help in finding an electric bus to try out on its rough roads.
Most islanders sound enthusiastic about the project. Mr. Komineas expects the number of private cars on Astypalea to fall by a third over the next five years. Its residents, he says, will get around on e-scooters and electric minibuses, which will be free, linked to a mobile-phone app and available round the clock.
Some observers find a bit of green washing. Building a solar park that would produce the island’s electricity will not get started before the tourist season ends. A single wind turbine (涡轮) will not be fixed before 2026 even if the licensing process-goes smoothly. On the other hand, the islanders worry that tourists will go elsewhere if the view is destroyed by a turbine 200 meters high. And even then, the hybrid power unit is planned to cover only about 80% of summer demand. But it is a start.
1. What common measure do Volkswagen and the government take?A.Offering money-related support. | B.Developing a mobile-phone app. |
C.Making electric cars. | D.Establishing a power plant. |
A.Tourism development and heavy traffic. | B.Location and government’s efforts. |
C.Islanders’ demand and road conditions. | D.Islanders’ lifestyle and large population. |
A.The licensing process. | B.Environmental damage. |
C.Loss of tourists. | D.The influence on their daily life. |
A.The experiment will come to nothing. |
B.There are difficulties in conducting the project. |
C.Green tourism will become a trend in Greece. |
D.The islanders are unwilling to change their lifestyle. |
9 . The rechargeable lithium-ion (锂离子) battery market is worth more than $50 billion. Lithium-ion batteries, whose demand continues to go up day by day, are used in a wide range of electronic devices. They are made of four main components, and cathode (阴极) is one of them. The cathode’s active material type is what determines the capacity of a battery.
A recent study, led by Wang Yan, a material scientist of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, finds that lithium-ion batteries made with recycled cathodes work better than those with new cathodes.
“The battery industry is expected to grow sharply in the next decade. This high demand has led companies to go to extremes, like increasing deep-sea mining, to gain access to the minerals used in lithium-ion batteries,” Wang said. “Mining minerals will have environmental impacts. Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries offers a way out.”
But until now, the prospect of using recycled materials in lithium-ion batteries has some manufacturers (制造商) worrying that it could impact performance. Thus, lithium-ion batteries are still not widely recycled. Aware of decreasing resources and environmental impact, Wang and other researchers set out to find a way to make recycling lithium-ion batteries economically practical. Through experiments, they could recover more than 90% of the key metals from spent batteries. These recovered metals became the basis of the new recycled battery’s cathode’s active material.
In tests between Wang’s team’s recycled batteries and brand-new batteries of the same composition, the recycled batteries outperform the new ones in their ability to maintain capacity. It took 11,600 charge cycles for recycled cathode batteries to lose 30 percent of their original capacity. That was about 50 percent better than the 7,600 observed cycles for new cathode batteries, the team reported. Those thousands of extra cycles could translate into years of better battery performance, even after repeated use and recharging.
1. What can we learn about lithium-ion batteries from the first paragraph?A.They are high in price. |
B.They are in great demand. |
C.They are limited in use. |
D.They are simple in composition. |
A.The target users of recycled batteries. |
B.The ways to get minerals for batteries. |
C.The major reasons for recycling batteries. |
D.The complex process of recycling batteries. |
A.Declining mineral resources. |
B.Difficult recycling techniques. |
C.Serious environmental problems. |
D.Inefficient battery performance. |
A.The battery industry is going to develop dramatically. |
B.Recycling batteries reduces impact on the environment. |
C.Scientists can recover key materials from spent batteries. |
D.Recycled batteries outperform new ones in charging circles. |
10 . Concerns about microplastics are not new. They’ve been growing for more than a decade. Over the past two years, however, many creative solutions have emerged to address the problem on a local level. Still, experts say there’s a need for a huge effort if we want to curb (控制) the global issue.
The term microplastics was coined in 2004 by marine ecologist Richard Thompson after he discovered tiny bits of plastic littering British beaches. Since then, scientists have found microplastics nearly everywhere. Even inside us. According to a 2021 study in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, the physical presence of plastic inside the body poses a potential problem. Plastic’s chemical additives might also affect different species’ tissues and organs. However, there is disagreement as to how much microplastics harm species, including humans.
For a global view of this vast issue, Duke University scientists created a public database to track plastic removal innovations. For instance, the Hoola One is a vacuum that internally separates microplastics from organic materials. In Amsterdam, scientists have introduced the Bubble Barrier in canals, a device that creates a wall of bubbles to send submerged plastic to the surface. Hong Kong Polytechnic University researchers presented a unique idea — a bacteria biofilm that could attract and trap microplastics before they flow into rivers and oceans.
But “if you have a technology that would capture microplastics before they enter our waterways, that would be ideal,” says Zoie Diana, who added 40 new inventions this year. That’s where Alain Marty, chief scientist at the biochemistry start-up Carbios, comes into the picture. In a 2020 Nature article, Marty and colleagues describe how they engineered an enzyme (酶) to break down plastic efficiently. “Industries could employ that in their manufacturing processes so that nearly all of their material could be reused to create products. Marty’s discovery is a breakthrough in the right direction, though preventing microplastics by reducing our plastic use also matters,” says Diana. “We really want to turn off the tap.”
1. What can we learn about microplastics?A.They didn’t exist until 2004. |
B.They can be easily tracked down. |
C.They remain a matter of worldwide concern. |
D.They do more harm to other species than humans. |
A.By giving examples. | B.By making comparisons. |
C.By referring to another study. | D.By presenting research findings. |
A.The enzyme can solve industries' productivity problems. |
B.Taps should be prohibited for fear of the spread of microplastics. |
C.A decline in plastic use is no less important than Marty's discovery. |
D.Microplastics-capturing technology can rid waterways of microplastics. |