1 . Scientist, conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction (灭绝) often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species(物种) at risk, this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that, from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness,indigenous - managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas, ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places, they are better than parks and preserves -even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15,000 areas in Australia, Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co - managed by indigenous groups, while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio-diverse. For threatened species in particular, indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada, as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography, climate and history. Yet remarkably, Schuster says, the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable(可持续的) hunting, fishing and searching, as well as burning, are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins, an ecologist at California State University,agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land, ” he says, “ and a use of the land for the things that are there, compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward, ” Schuster says, adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals: “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2?A.Social. | B.Native. |
C.Protected. | D.Threatened. |
A.National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
B.Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
C.Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
D.Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio-diversity. |
A.Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
B.Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
C.Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
D.Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
A.Beating back extinction. | B.Dealing with environmental problems. |
C.Setting up nature reserves. | D.Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
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
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3 . Is Your Diet Destroying the Environment?
A vegetarian diet is often praised for its health benefits. Studies have shown that vegetarians usually have lower levels of heart disease and a lower risk of diabetes than people who eat meat. What most people are less aware of, however, are the effects that a vegetarian diet can have on the environment.
Researchers from the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US recently studied how consumer behavior affects the environment. The study showed that meat consumption is one of the main ways that humans can damage the environment, second only to the use of motor vehicle.
Then, how can eating meat have a negative effect on the environment? For a start, all farm animals such as cows, pigs, and sheep give off methane (沼气) gas by expelling (排出) wind from their bodies. One cow can produce up to 60 liters of methane each day. Methane gas is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Many environmental experts now believe that it is more responsible for global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 25% of all methane released into the atmosphere comes from farm animals.
Another way that meat production affects the environment is through the use of water and land. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef, whereas 20 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of wheat. One acre of farmland used for crop production can produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots, or 50,000 pounds of tomatoes.
Many people now see the benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet, not just for health reasons, but also because it plays a vital role in protecting the environment. However, some nutritionists advise against switching to a totally strict vegetarian, or vegan diet. They believe a vegan diet, which excludes all products from animal sources, such as cheese, eggs, and milk, can be short of many necessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need.
Today, many people know it’s important to take better care of their bodies and to use the earth’s resources more efficiently. As this understanding spreads, more people may realize that to help the environment and for the human race to survive, more of us will need to become vegetarians.
1. The underlined word “it” in Para.3 refers to ___________.A.methane gas | B.carbon dioxide |
C.expelling wind | D.greenhouse gas |
A.growing tomatoes has the highest production |
B.crop production is better than meat production |
C.meat production consumes too much water and land |
D.farm animals are the main producer of the methane gas |
A.Our diet is destroying the surroundings. |
B.Raising farm animals affects the environment. |
C.A vegetarian diet helps to protect the environment. |
D.More and more people are becoming strict vegetarians. |
4 . A 2018 report found that food waste would increase by a third to 2. 1billion tons by 2030. Beyond the cost of the waste itself,thrown-away food generates a gas that contributes to climate change.
Home delivery meal kits(盒)can reduce food waste by more than two-thirds,but suppliers need to switch to reusable packaging to make them environmentally friendly.
Tailor-made meal kits cut waste by providing people with precise amounts of fresh ingredients(烹饪原料)for chosen recipes,meaning leftovers are minimized. But while the delivery services score well on reducing food waste,buying the same food ingredients from the supermarket almost always saves energy overall simply because meal kits use so much single-use packaging. The good news is that if people have meals that are tailored for consumption,they won’t overbuy and have less food waste. They fine-tune the amount of food to what they will actually eat.
Meal kits can reduce transport emissions(排放)if people go to the supermarket less frequently. If people only go and buy such goods as soap and toilet paper,they may only have to visit once every couple of months. A delivery truck can carry meals for a lot of people in the neighborhood. So dozens of car trips might be replaced with one truck trip.
However,study found that even if delivery meal kits reduced food waste to zero,they would still use up more energy overall than buying the same food from the supermarket unless the energy used for the meal kit packaging was cut by a fifth. The packaging is a killer if it’s single-use and thrown away,which can make all the environmental benefits lost. But if the packaging can be reused,if it’s glass bottles,like in the old days,we can get some benefits.
1. What can we learn about home delivery meal kits?A.They can cut down on daily expenses. |
B.They will totally solve the problem of food waste. |
C.They can keep energy consumption to a minimum. |
D.They will benefit the environment with reusable packaging. |
A.Attach. | B.Adjust. |
C.Raise. | D.Compare. |
A.reduce transport emissions | B.save more food |
C.shop only in the supermarket | D.shorten car trip distances |
A.Supportive. | B.Unfavorable. |
C.Objective. | D.Indifferent. |
5 . 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
Acid rain is now a familiar problem in the industrialized countries in Europe. Harmful gases like Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are produced by power stations and cars.
Acid rain is also capable of dissolving some rocks and buildings made of soft rock, such as limestone, are particularly badly affected. The acid rain attacks the rock, and so carvings and statues are worn away more quickly.
The acid rain is said to be caused by pollution from oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Car exhaust gases are also a problem. Local volcanic eruption make the problem even worse. Nevertheless, with enough money and effort, researchers say that many of the problems could be solved and the rate of dissolving reduced.
Mexico’s current lack of funds is also partly due to oil. The country has rich oil field and a few years ago, when oil was expensive, Mexico was selling large quantities of oil to the USA and earning a lot of money. The government was therefore able to borrow huge sums of money from banks around the world, thinking they would have no problem repaying their debts. However, the price of oil then dropped, and Mexico has been left owing enormous sums of money and with not enough income from oil sales to pay back the loans.
A.However, the Mexican government does not have enough money to do the work, and needs to spend what money it has on the Mexican people. |
B.That is enough to have caused some of the ancient carvings to become seriously damaged already. |
C.So unless the price of rises, it is unlikely that Mexican will be able to afford to clean up the pollution and save its Mayan ruins from destruction. |
D.These measures would reduce the pollution, but would not stop it completely. |
E.The problem, however, is not a European one. |
F.They dissolve in rainwater and this makes acid rain, which damages trees, rivers and streams. |
A. alarming B. properties C. revealed D. invasive E. rescue F. instrumental G. households H. document I. concerned J. amateur K. initiatives |
Before science became professionalized in the 19th century,
Volunteers and enthusiasts can be powerful drivers for big changes. On the Isle of Man, more than 8,000 people (nearly 10% of the population) are involved in regular weekend beach cleans. At one recent event, 123 volunteers turned up and removed 183 bags of litter in just a couple of hours. Thanks to
Recreational divers are making a real difference underwater too. They monitor the spread of
Volunteers and enthusiasts can be powerful drivers for big changes. No one can know better, or care more about, our most special places than the people who live in them and give up their free time to look after them. As a group of divers and
9 . Darrell Blatchley, a marine biologist and environmentalist based in the Philippine city of Davao, received a call from the Philippines, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (渔业与水产资源局) early Friday morning reporting a death of a young whale.
When the necropsy (尸检) was performed, Blatchley told NPR, he was not prepared for the amount of plastic they found in the whale’s stomach. “It was full of plastic nothing but nonstop plastic.” he said “It was filled to the point that its stomach was as hard as a baseball.” That means that this animal has been suffering not for days or weeks but for months or even a year or more,” Blatchley added.
Blatchley is the founder and owner of the D’Bone Collector Museum, a natural history museum in Davao. In the coming days, the museum will display all the items found in the whale’s system. Blatchley and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organizations to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals.
“Within the last 10 years, we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins just within the Davao Gulf,” he said. “Of them, 57 have died due to man whether they took plastic or fishing nets or other waste, or gotten caught in pollution — and four were pregnant.”
Blatchley said he hoped that the latest incident would launch the issue of plastic pollution in the Philippines and across the globe. “If we keep going this way, it will be more uncommon to see an animal die of natural causes than it is to see an animal die of plastic,” he said.
1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?A.The whale was starved to death. |
B.Blatchley was shocked at what he found. |
C.The dead whale must have swallowed a baseball. |
D.Blatchley didn’t make preparations for the necropsy. |
A.Waste collected from the ocean. |
B.The whole system of the whale. |
C.Things found in the whale’s body. |
D.Many different tools of whaling. |
A.Uncommon. | B.Worrying. | C.Inspiring. | D.Mild. |
A.A Whale Found Dead of Plastic |
B.Stand Up for Protecting Whales |
C.Plastic Threatening Our Existence |
D.Natural Death or Merciless Murder |
1. 意义;2. 现状;3. 建议。
注意:1.词数100左右;2.文章标题已拟好,不计入总词数。
参考词汇:垃圾分类 garbage classification
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