1 . Located in the Indian Ocean,the Maldives(马尔代夫) are among the most beautiful islands in the world,with white sandy beaches,clear water,and amazing coral reefs(珊瑚礁).The country depends on tourism,fishing,and shipping.But the rising sea level and the carbon pollution causing warming oceans are threatening(威胁) their existence.
The Maldives have asked for international help.They are a tiny country.The World Bank,the United States,the European Union,and many other groups have offered money to develop safeguards against climate change.
To protect the islands,the Maldives have built sea walls and increased the elevation(海拔) of important buildings and services such as the two international airports,which lie just 165 feet from the coastline.
They’re also building up islands such as the Hulhumale.The new island is surrounded by 9-foot sea walls.More than 40,000 people live there.The plan is to house 240,000,providing new opportunities for jobs.The goal is an excellent planned community with sustainable housing and buildings sensitive to the environment and needs of the people.
The government will move people living on smaller,lower-lying islands to the new built-up islands.The new islands offer free houses,new schools,health hospitals,fresh water,and waste treatment.Depending on tourism,the country hopes to build 50 more tourist islands.
“Climate change is happening,but we are not leaving the Maldives to the sea,” said Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim.The Maldives will protect their islands,people and tourism with new islands and ongoing island development against the rising sea level.
1. What do we fail to learn according to the passage?| A．The Maldives are a small country. |
| B．Many groups have helped the Maldives. |
| C．240,000 people live on the Hulhumale now. |
| D．The Hulhumale is surrounded by 9-foot sea walls. |
| A．The Maldives will be protected. |
| B．The Maldivians will leave all the islands. |
| C．The Maldives should give up tourism. |
| D．The Maldives will sink to the sea. |
| A．The Maldives and Their Tourism |
| B．The Maldives and Their Rising Sea Level |
| C．The Maldives and Their Climate Change |
| D．The Maldives and Their Fight Against the Rising Sea Level |
| A．Their tourism,fishing and shipping. |
| B．Their rising sea level and carbon pollution. |
| C．Their sandy white beaches and coral reefs. |
| D．Their distant islands and warming oceans. |
2 . Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rainforest, he watched a bird flying through the trees. The beautiful sight left quite an impression on him. But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down for their wood in the area he visited.
That experience led Rhett Butler to begin writing a book about rainforests and threats (威胁) to their existence. But he did not publish the book. Instead, in 1999, he used his research for the book to create a website. The site is Mongabay.com. His purpose was to inform the public about tropical rainforests. But the subject quickly developed. As a former businessman, he became a respected writer of science and environmental stories.
The popularity of Mongabay.com attracted advertisers. Small ads on the site pay for its operations. Mongabay.com has grown and led to other sites. For example, there is a site for children which is called kids mongabay.com. Another one, WildMadagascar.org, is all about the island nation that Rhett Butler calls his favorite place.
To keep his website going, he travels around the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment. He often calls on experts for information. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly, a top expert on lemurs (狐猴). He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
Stories like these have made Mongabay.com a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time. Com. named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment websites in the world.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Rhett Butler and His Website |
| B．Rainforest on Malaysian Borneo |
| C．How Rhett Butler Protected Rare Animals |
| D．How Rhett Butler Made His Website Popular |
| A．making websites earns more money than writing books |
| B．he was not prepared to publish his book |
| C．the book was not about rainforest protection |
| D．he wanted to use the information to create a website |
| A．It was set up in 1999. | B．It attracted many advertisers. |
| C．Two related websites grew from it. | D．Rhett Butler made a lot of money from it. |
| A．kept visiting the rainforest | B．traveled around and interviewed experts |
| C．raised rare snow leopards | D．made a great number of advertisements |
Are you worried about our earth? Do you want to do what you can to save it?
Turn off anything that uses electricity when not in use.
It's not just paper, plastic and glass that can be recycled — clothes can be, too.
You don't have to travel far to get what you need, and products don't have to travel far to get to you, either. Shop at farmers' markets and buy food that was produced as close to your home as possible. And when you're online shopping, try to find things that won't have to travel long distances.
Save water.If you don't let the water run when you're brushing your teeth and take showers instead of baths, you will be using less water and less energy — but you'll still be just as clean!
| A．Buy things nearby. |
| B．Think before you eat. |
| C．It's hard to know where to start. |
| D．Turn short jeans you've grown out of into shorts. |
| E．Also, don't wash dishes with the water running continuously. |
| F．This goes for lights, televisions, computers, printers, and so on. |
| G．Bring a reusable water bottle with you when travelling or at work. |
4 . In the UK, electric and other low-emission（低排放）cars, vans, and buses could be given special green plates to encourage more people to buy such cars, and promote awareness for “clean” cars.
Strange as it may seem, there is some reason to believe that something as small as this could make a big difference. Already, similar ideas have been put into effect in Norway, Canada, Latvia, and China, and the results have been encouraging.
Elisabeth Costa, director of the Behavioural Insights Team, explains, “Simple changes based on behavioral science can have a big impact. Green plates would be more noticeable to road users, and this increased attraction can help normalise the idea of clean vehicles, highlighting（使突出）the changing social norms（规范）around vehicle ownership.”
Actually, hybrids and electric cars accounted for 5.5% of the cars sold in the UK in the first half of the year, compared to 4.2% for the same period in 2017.
However, colored plates can only go so far. At the end of the day, you need strong, concrete（具体的）measures if you want to support a market like electric cars. The UK already has generous allowances for electric cars, but a study for the RAC Foundation found that the lack of reliable, easy-to-use charging stations is the main roadblock to people purchasing more electric cars. This was repeated by separate research from AA, the UK’s largest motorist association, which found that although 1 in 2 young drivers want electric cars, 8 out of 10 drivers feel that the lack of adequate electrical chargers is the main reason not to buy an electric car.
Yet this all shows that more and more people are nearing a tipping point where they are willing to buy electric cars. And a small PR stunt（噱头）, the “coolness factor” of the colored plates could end up making a difference. Similarly, having red plates for the more polluting cars might also play a role.
A spokesman for the Environmental Transport Association said, “While green number plates will be positive PR for low-emission car makers and early adopters of the technology alike, to be truly effective any such measures will need to at the same time shame the drivers of the most polluting vehicles.”
1. Why does the UK give green license plates to cars?| A．To promote car sales. |
| B．To beautify the environment in the UK. |
| C．To separate “clean” cars from polluting cars. |
| D．To inspire people to buy low-emission vehicles. |
| A．The results of giving colored plates are discouraging. |
| B．The measures of giving colored plates will be at an end. |
| C．Giving colored plates has a limited impact on promoting “clean” cars. |
| D．Giving colored plates will be replaced by strong, concrete measures. |
| A．Allowances for electric cars are not attractive. |
| B．They aren’t fond of the green color. |
| C．Charging stations are not readily available. |
| D．Electric cars are unaffordable to them. |
| A．Banning people from buying polluting cars. |
| B．Continuing the use of green number plates. |
| C．Replacing green plates with red ones. |
| D．Shaming the drivers of polluting cars into buying “clean” cars. |
5 . Going green seems to be fad (时尚) for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22,2011,we decided to be green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyles. We now shop at organic (有机的) stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planets.
1. What might be the best title for the passage?| A．Going Green. | B．Protecting the Planet. |
| C．Keeping Open-Minded | D．Celebrating Our Green Year. |
| A．they were expected to follow the green fad |
| B．they didn’t know how to educate other people |
| C．they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
| D．they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
| A．They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
| B．They ignore others’ ungreen behavior. |
| C．They chose better chemical cleaners. |
| D．They sold their home-made food. |
| A．The government will give support to the green people. |
| B．The couple may continue their project in the future. |
| C．Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
| D．Our Green Year is becoming a national campaign. |
6 . Half of the world's beaches could disappear by 2100, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests.
Michalis Vousdoukas, of the European Union's Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy, was the lead researchist. "Tourist areas which have sandy beaches as their main selling point will probably face strong consequences," he said. Aside from economic value, beaches play an important environmental role. "Sandy beaches are important habitats supporting a wide range of species. They also protect the coast from the effects of storms, so without sandy beaches other inland environments can be affected by the effects of waves and saltwater entering," Vousdoukas added.
The main causes are rising sea-level and erosion (侵蚀)from storms, the study says, which warned of the near-disappearance of almost half of the world's sandy beaches by the end of the century. Beaches in the United States will be “greatly affected”，as will shorelines in Canada, Mexico, China and Chile. In the U. S. , beaches along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast will experience the most erosion.
Michalis Vousdoukas and other researchers used satellite images to track the way beaches have changed over the past 30 years and patterned how global warming might affect them in the future. They found that West Africa will see some of the worst losses, where more than 60% of sandy coastline may be lost in countries such as The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Australia will also take a hit:when the total length of sandy beach projected to be lost is analyzed, Australia would be hit the hardest, with more than 7,000 miles at risk.
1. What mainly caused the disappearance of half of the world's beaches?| A．Over population and more tourism. | B．Severe erosion and coastline losses. |
| C．Global warming and climate change. | D．Sea-level rise and storm destruction. |
| A．Chile. | B．The Gambia. | C．Australia. | D．The United States. |
| A．They can provide habitats for species. |
| B．They can block out waves and storms. |
| C．They can be popular tourist attractions. |
| D．They can stop erosion from happening. |
| A．To introduce beaches. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To protect environment. | D．To explain a study. |
7 . Royal Dutch Shell is launching a $ 300 million and forestry program, at a time when an increasing number of oil companies are putting money in carbon offset (碳补偿)plans to meet climate goals. The company will spend the money over the next three years on projects to store carbon, including large forests in the Netherlands and Spain, and will start offering motorists the option of purchasing carbon offsets when they buy petrol at the pump.
The executives of the company explained that these carbon offset projects were a new business opportunity for Shell, as well as a way to meet its climate targets. “We believe that over time we will be building a business, because these carbon credits will become more valuable as carbon becomes more limited," they said. Shell recently decided to cut its net carbon footprint (碳排放)by 2-3 percent in five years, which includes emissions (排放)from the products it sells. The company plans to produce carbon credits from the forestry projects, then sell these credits on to customers buying its oil and gas products, or apply the credits to its own operations to lower its carbon footprint.
Plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and restoring forests and other natural areas is considered one of the simplest ways to store carbon. However, the voluntary market for carbon credits based on forestry projects has its critics, as projects in developing countries can be hard to monitor. Shell's move has also been criticized by some environmentalists. They worried that there was a risk of " greenwash when companies invested in forestry projects. "There is an entire debate about whether forestry projects truly reduce emissions or not," they said, pointing out that planting in one area could cause deforestation (滥伐森林)to another.
Shell said it would rely on the third party to ensure its forest program to meet the Voluntary Carbon Standard and strict biodiversity requirements. Mark Lewis, head of climate change investment research at BNP Paribas, said, " Planting trees to offset emissions, as far as it goes, is a step in the right direction."
1. What is popular among oil companies these days?| A．Studying climate changes. |
| B．Launching forestry programs. |
| C．Working out carbon offset plans. |
| D．Attracting motorists to buy their petrol. |
| A．By quitting the emissions of its products. |
| B．By reducing its carbon footprint by a quarter. |
| C．By limiting the oil used by its own operations. |
| D．By putting carbon credits it produces on the market. |
| A．The projects can't really stop carbon emissions. |
| B．The projects are hard to monitor in poor countries. |
| C．The projects may lead to deforestation in other forests. |
| D．The projects haven't met strict biodiversity requirements. |
| A．Discount. | B．Cheat. |
| C．Decline. | D．Change. |
8 . One of the tallest wooden buildings in Europe, a 98m timber (木材)mixture skyscraper, is to rise in Berlin.
The 29-storey WoHo tower, to be designed by a firm of Norwegian architects, is intended to be a “light-house project” for low-carbon construction, towering over Potsdamer Platz and the Landwehr Canal.
Its core, including lifts and a staircase, is to be built around concrete structure but the rest of the building, including flats, offices, cafes and a kindergarten, will be fashioned down wooden beams (横梁)and panels.
“As Norwegians, we are used to working a lot with timber,” Nicolai Riise, CEO of the Mad Architects' Practice said.
“The thing about timber is that its carbon footprint is close to zero and that it's a fantastic material to build with. If you look at this in a broader way, it's one of the ways we are going to be able to beat the climate crisis.”
Wooden skyscrapers, once regarded as a pipe dream, have become realistic with the coming of cross-laminated (交叉叠合)building techniques and more flexible planning laws. Because these structures' parts are fit with care, they can be far lighter than their concrete equivalents (同等物)and are thought to be relatively resistant to fire. A cubic meter of wood can also take an estimated ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Larger wooden structures are planned elsewhere. London is examining blueprints for a 300-meter Oakwood Tower. A project in Tokyo could rise to 350m.
1. What is special about the WoHo Tower?| A．It will serve as a light house. |
| B．Its core is to be built with timber. |
| C．It is designed for a Norwegian firm. |
| D．It will be a tall timber mixture building. |
| A．It is a flexible material. | B．It is easy to collect. |
| C．It is environmentally-friendly. | D．It can be cut into pieces. |
| A．A nightmare. | B．Something practical. |
| C．A piece of cake. | D．Something impossible |
| A．Flexible ideas. | B．The concrete equivalents. |
| C．Fire resistant materials. | D．New building techniques. |
9 . Before you throw your trash into the nearest can, think for a moment. Not all your garbage can be dumped into one trashcan. It needs to be sorted out with different things going into different bins. Waste classification, a practice that has long been normal in developed countries like Japan, is the new challenge for many Chinese urban residents. However, though initially you might need to rack your brains to figure out which trash goes into which can, in the long run, the result is well worth the effort.
Landfills, sites where waste is buried and covered over with soil, are a major method of disposing of residential waste in China. However, considering the environmental disaster associated with burying waste, there is a pressing need to reduce the amount of waste that goes into a landfill. Classification, sorting waste into different categories such as harmful waste, recyclables and kitchen waste, is a key solution.
Currently, 46 cities across China, are carrying out a program that aims to put in place a classification-based garbage disposal system by the end of 2020. It is hoped that this will reduce the quantity of waste that ends up in landfills by a large degree. Shanghai came into the media focus in early July after it carried out compulsory garbage sorting rules that those who fail to dispose of garbage properly should be fined. Beijing is reviewing its regulations to follow in Shanghai's footsteps. The new rules may cause short-term inconvenience but they are meant to help residents follow the concept of garbage classification for the common good.
As the programs show, residents can gradually develop this habit with their growing awareness and the help of advanced technology. In future, this practice should be adopted across China, in urban cities and rural areas alike. With public involvement, China's garbage sorting program will contribute not only to the nation's sustainable (可持续的) development but also to making the planet a better place to live in.
1. What is the most probable reason for classifying waste?| A．No site for burying waste. | B．People's habit. |
| C．Economic cost. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．To practise waste classification. |
| B．To protect environment. |
| C．To save oil for farming. |
| D．To reduce the quantity of waste. |
| A．A program adopted across China. |
| B．Shanghai carried out new disposal rules. |
| C．Doing the best with waste. |
| D．Protecting environment is necessary. |
| A．China will become the leading country of the program. |
| B．The program will be spread nationwide. |
| C．Development in rural areas will make great progress. |
| D．People will help develop modern technology. |
10 . You may not think it very much—a used ice cream tub on the beach, a cigarette butt in the sand. But these little pieces of litter amount to around 8.8 million tons of trash in the world’s oceans, poisoning and choking sealife, according to figures from the World Wildlife Foundation.
Now, in a set of images titled The Price Of Convenience by Waters has shown the destructive effects casual littering has on creatures. In one image called “Your convenience is their extinction”, a sea turtle’s shell is hollowed out and filled with banana skins, soda cans, and other debris.
“It is shocking the amount of trash in the oceans,” Waters, 23, said, describing his project in which he has begun a campaign to the WWF. “When you leave litter on the beach we are treating the ocean like a trash can. When you throw trash over the side of a boat, you’re treating the ocean like a trash can. And when you leave litter at a beach festival or party, it’s the same. Obviously it would be impossible to clean the oceans but I felt I had to try something.”
The turning point came as he visited Malaysia with his girlfriend last year. To his surprise, he reached the shore to find piles of trash. It was beautiful, the smell of the air, of the ocean. He had a strong feeling for it after he started researching trash in the ocean. A few months later, he came across the video of a sea turtle in obvious agony with a drinking straw stuck up its nostrils. That video inspired the first of Waters’ three images. “Sea turtles are such gentle creatures. I felt sick watching that video. Trash left on a beach by humans caused so much pain and suffering. These animals don’t have voices so we’ve got to speak up for them,” he added.
Waters has not yet received a response from WWF regarding his images. For now, he says, he is inspired to develop more and more campaigns that raise awareness of environmental concerns.
1. What does the author want to tell us with the figure from WWF?| A．How seriously the ocean has been polluted. | B．When people can take their actions. |
| C．What measures people should take. | D．Where people should throw the rubbish. |
| A．Seawater. | B．Creatures. | C．Rubbish. | D．Fruits. |
| A．Excited. | B．Anxious. | C．Shocked. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．The used ice cream tub. | B．The cigarette butt. |
| C．The banana skin. | D．The drinking straw. |
