2 . A record surge in the creation of marine protected areas has taken the international community close to its goal of creating nature refuges on 17% of the world’s land and 10% of seas by 2020, according to a new UN report. Protected region snow cover more than five times the territory of the US, but the authors said this good news was often undermined by poor enforcement. Some reserves are little more than “paper parks” with little value to nature conservation. Atleast one has been turned into an industrial zone. More than 27m square kilometres of seas (7% of the total) and 20m sq km of land (15% of the total) now have protected status, according to the Protected Planet report, which was released on Sunday at the UN biodiversity conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Almost all of the growth has been in marine regions, most notably with the creation last year of the world’s biggest protected area: the 2m sq km Ross Sea reserve, one-fifth of which is in the Antarctic. The no-fishing zone will be managed by New Zealand and the US.

“We have seen an enormous expansion in the past two years. There is now more marine protected area than terrestrial, which nobody would have predicted,” said Kathy McKinnon of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “I think we’ll continue to see a substantial increase, I’d guess, to at least 10% in the near future.”

The UN convention on biological diversity says it has received national commitments for an additional 4.5m sq km of land and 16m sq km of oceans to be given protected status in the next two years. This would put it on course to achieve one of the key aims of the 2010 Aichi biodiversity targets.

“This is the target with the most progress. In an ocean of bad news about biodiversity loss and eco-destruction, it is important to highlight that progress, though we still have a lot more to do to ensure not just the quantitive target but the effectiveness of the management,” said CristianaPașca Palmer, the head of UN Biodiversity.

The creation of protected areas has not been enough to halt a collapse of species and ecosystems that threatens civilisation. Since 1970 humanity has wiped out 60% of mammal, bird, fish and reptile populations, with a dangerous knock-on impact on food production, fisheries and climate stability.

Protected areas are important refuges from this wave of extinctions but many are underfunded and poorly policed. Only one in five have provided management assessments to the UN, which has raised questions about the viability of the rest.

Naomi Kingston, of UN environment world conservation monitoring centre, said: “There is a race to deliver on Aichi target 11. It is fantastic that countries are coming with more ambition, but not if it is just a number without substance.

“Some areas that have been reported to us as protected areas have been completely built over. We need datasets to define which areas are paper parks and which are real.”

Developing nations have better reporting standards because many are obliged to provide regular assessments in order to qualify for funds from the Global Environment Fund. By contrast, many wealthier nations devote few resources to monitoring.

Discussions will focus on a new, more flexible category for community land that is used by locals for both agricultural production and wildlife conservation. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, this is a model that has often helped improve biodiversity because residents — often from indigenous communities — live closely with nature and have an interest in protecting it.

1. What promotes the achievement of the goals of marine nature reserves?

A．Poor management of marine protected areas.

B．Loss of biodiversity and ecological destruction.

C．Rapid growth in the number of marine protected areas.

D．Commitments in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

2. What impact does the establishment of “paper parks”have on protected areas?

A．They have promoted the expansion of marine protected areas.

B．They have little value for nature conservation.

C．They all turn into industrial zones.

D．They will slow down the collapse of ecosystems.

3. According to the passage, what is Kathy McKinnon’s point of view?

A．NewZealand and the United States regulate fishing-ban zones.

B．In the near future, the number of marine refuges will increase by at least 10%.

C．The quantity and management quality of marine refuges are equally important.

D．Many countries have ambitions to achieve Aichi 11.

4. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．A recorded surge in the creation of marine protected areas.

B．Developing countries may receive funding from the Global Environment Facility.

C．The Increase of marine refuges and the views of relevant personnel.

D．Achieving Aichi 11 Goal.

3 . Mark Covington, founder of the Georgia Street Community Collective in Detroit, stands in a corner of his urban farm, breathing the fresh air in the early morning.     1     Early in the day, the green crops giving life to tomatoes, cabbages, eggplants, and more are bathed in gold, as if being watered by the sun. The sounds of dogs, pigs, roosters, and a group of stirring bees drown out the sounds of the city.

In 2007, Covington lost his job and returned to his childhood street.     2     “It was dirty,” he said. “There were always vacant lots, but they had always been maintained for children to play on.” He knew that if he just cleaned them up, people would pile on them again.     3    

Covington started with a small community garden.     4     One mother sent three children to help him build a larger garden where the kids could grow food, stay busy during the summer and add structure to their lives. Little by little the seeds took root, as the hands on the garden that would evolve into a farm multiplied.

    5     On one corner: a movie screen and a public garden with vegetable and flower beds. On another: a farm and a community center in a building. Nearby are garlic beds and a greenhouse. “It’s somewhat spiritual for me,” Covington says. “It’s like a sanctuary (圣殿). People come here and don’t want to leave.”

A．But if he planted stuff, they might not.

B．It’s a typical morning scene at the collective.

C．He saw garbage piled high in vacant, abandoned lots.

D．Covington made the garden a little bigger to plant more.

E．And almost immediately neighbors began asking to participate.

F．He planted a garden to help feed residents and enrich their lives.

G．What began as an effort to remove trash has turned into a site of community.

5 . In order to learn about advanced scientific technology and ideas for combating desertification, Rezaali Pakzad left the Iranian capital Teheran, in 2018, to study in Northwest China’s Gansu Province.

He is a 27-year-old doctoral student at Lanzhou University, focusing on soil desertification control. In his view, Iran, like other arid and semiarid countries, faces environmental problems such as desertification. When he did field surveys and research in Minqin county, Gansu, he found that the local desertification characteristics were very similar to those of his hometown.

“Minqin is between two deserts. From being “about to disappear” to being gradually green, from being ravaged by “sand devils” to being covered by vast green plants, the scientific and effective prevention and control methods of the Chinese government have greatly changed the county, and made me see the hope of improving the ecology in my hometown,” he says.

He believes that China has certainly contributed to the global effort to combat desertification, and that the Chinese contribution is worth learning from. China has developed advanced technology models, such as quicksand fixation and vegetation restoration, and protective forest systems along major transport routes, which have introduced more green to deserts.

Already among the top nations in the world in the field of combating desertification, China has shared its experience with other countries, carried out international exchanges and cooperation, and contributed to global desertification control, he says.

He believes he has made progress during his five years of living and studying in China. By learning more about the Chinese language and culture, he has adapted to life in China and enjoyed the help and sincere concern of his teachers, classmates and friends here.

He hopes to achieve a lot, at a high level, in his research field and to contribute to international exchanges and cooperation in desertification control. “I want to be an ‘ecological messenger’ by spreading green ideas,” he says.

1. What problem does Pakzad want to solve?

A．Shortage of greens.	B．Water pollution.
C．Energy reduction.	D．Drought.

2. What does the underlined word “ravaged” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Protected.

B．Constructed.

C．Destroyed.

D．Reduced.

3. Which of the following best describes Rezaali Pakzad?

A．Generous and ambitious.	B．Responsible and hopeful.
C．Hard-working and creative.	D．Determined and tolerant.

4. What can we know from Paragraph 5?

A．China seldom participates in the global affairs.

B．China has solved the problem of desertification.

C．China is the top nation in international cooperation.

D．China plays a vital role in global desertification control.

8 . A rare wild flower is being re-established in Devon fields thanks to some four-legged helpers. A conservation charity called Planflife has employed donkeys as “ecosystem engineers”to encourage the return of the endangered small-flowered catchfly.

The catchfly was once found all across Britain but now it only grows in small areas of Wales and the south and west of England. Experts blame its decline on modern farming practices. The flower flourished around the edges of sandy fields where farmers grew their crops, but because of weedkillers that were used to remove “unwanted” plants, and fertilisers to boost crop yields, its habitat has largely disappeared.

Plantlife teamed up with the Donkey Sanctuary, a charity that looks after donkeys in the UK and around the world. It owns several farms across Devon and the UK, where it takes care of hundreds of rescued donkeys, as well as maintaining habitats for other wildlife. More than 20, 000 seeds have been scattered on fields at the sanctuary’s main Devon farm, and it is hoped that many will grow into plants this summer. They will provide food for threatened bird species such as linnets, yellowhammers and skylarks. Plantlife then aims to get the donkeys themselves involved, testing whether catchfly seeds benefit from being trampled into the ground as the donkeys take their exercise. Many plants have seeds that must be pressed into the soil in order to germinate.

“We’re incredibly grateful to partners like the Donkey Sanctuary who are helping these fantastically rare wild flowers come back from the edge of extinction,” Cath Shellswell of Plantlife told The Guardian newspaper. “We look forward to seeing small-flowered catchfly return and we are working with the sanctuary to ensure that this tiny plant has a thriving future. ”

1. Why are donkeys employed in Devon fields?

A．To work in the fields.	B．To restore the catchfly.
C．To avoid extinction.	D．To raise crop yields.

2. What caused the decline of the catchfly’s population?

A．Soil loss.	B．Water pollution.
C．Climate change.	D．Modern agriculture.

3. How do donkeys help the catchfly come back?

A．By pressing its seeds into the soil.	B．By working the land.
C．By providing nutrition for it.	D．By spreading its seeds.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Donkeys help fields flower again.	B．Farmland becomes a natural habitat.
C．The biodiversity forms on Devon farms.	D．The catchfly has a thriving future.

9 . Scientists today are concerned about the growing number of species in the world that may soon become extinct. The United Nations, along with many governments, are trying to save these endangered species. To help resolve this issue, scientists have been trying to learn why species become endangered.

In the United States, loss of habitats is the main reason for species becoming endangered. As populations grow and cities or towns expand, nature is destroyed and the ecosystem is affected. Even small changes in one part of an ecosystem can have a big impact on another part of it. For example, deforestation may result in a change in ground temperature, which may kill off a certain kind of plant in the forest. Animals that eat this plant may suddenly find that there is no available food so they starve to death.

Another possible cause of endangered or extinct species is climate change and rising sea levels. As the Earth gets warmer, this has profound effects on animal and plant life everywhere. For example, rising sea levels make coastal areas unfit for birds to live in. Warmer temperatures melt the ice where polar bears live, wrecking their habitat and making it harder for them to find food. The rising seas also make it harder for polar bears to swim from the cold waters to frozen packs of ice so many of them drown.

There are several ways that people are trying to help endangered species recover. Ecologists study different species and try to find out more information about them to try and help. In Finland, for example, scientists found that a a decrease in the number of bogs(沼泽) was responsible for the falling butterfly population. Once they understood this, they could manage the butterfly population and help it recover. Governments are also passing laws to protect endangered animals. One example of this is an area near Hawaii with a seriously low fish population. The United States’ government has made it illegal for fishing boats to enter this area.

1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?

A．Most endangered species are located in the United States.

B．Cities and towns in the United States are growing too fast.

C．Ecosystem changes can result in habitat loss and animal death.

D．More trees need to be planted to prevent animals from dying out.

2. What does the underlined word “wrecking” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Conserving.

B．Damaging.

C．Providing.

D．Dominating.

3. Which is the best title for this text?

A．Saving Endangered Species	B．A List of Endangered Species
C．The Causes of Global Warming	D．How Polar Bears Became Extinct

4. What will the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Some other ways to help endangered species recover.

B．A brief discussion of polar bears and their diet habits.

C．The impact of fishing laws on the development of Hawaii.

D．Various opinions and debates concerning the cause of global warming.

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Planting trees is a great way to reduce carbon emissions, but protecting our oceans and coastal ecosystems can do the same?

“Blue carbon” refers to organic carbon which     1     (store) by the oceans and coastal ecosystems. Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses are the three main coastal ecosystems that can store large     2     (quantity) of blue carbon. They play a major role in reducing carbon dioxide in the air.

    3     (compare) with ecosystems on the land, coastal ecosystems can store carbon     4     (constant) in the long term. When plants on the coast die, the organic deposits that they become will slowly disappear thanks to the flowing seawater above,     5     means the carbon will not escape easily but remain stored for hundreds and thousands of years.

China is one of the few blessed     6     all three coastal ecosystems. Tidal marshes are the largest coastal ecosystem in China,     7     (occupy) an area of 5,448 square kilometers. In comparison, mangroves have a     8     (small) size. According to the latest data, the total area of China’s mangrove forests in 2020     9     (be) 289 square kilometers, and over 70 square kilometers of mangroves are newly planted and restored now.

By protecting and restoring these coastal ecosystems, we can avoid enormous amounts of stored blue carbon going back into     10     atmosphere, and safeguard wildlife living in these ecosystems.