1 . Today, you can buy a pair of sneakers (运动鞋) partially made from carbon dioxide pulled out of the atmosphere. But measuring the carbon-reduction benefits of making that pair of sneakers with carbon dioxide is complex. There’s the carbon dioxide that stayed in the ground, a definite carbon reduction. But what about the energy cost of cooling the carbon dioxide into liquid form and transporting it to a production facility? And what about when your kid outgrows the shoes in six months and they can’t be recycled into a new product because those systems aren’t in place yet?
Researchers are trying to help companies figure out how to account for each step in a product’s life.
As companies try to reduce their carbon footprint, many are doing life cycle assessments to measure the full carbon cost of products, from the obtaining of materials to energy use in manufacturing, from product transport to users’ behavior and end-of-life disposal (处理). It’s an impressively complex measurement, but such bean-counting is needed to hold the planet to a livable temperature, says low-carbon systems expert Andrea Ramirez Ramirez of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
Carbon use can be reduced at many points along the production chain—by using renewable energy in the manufacturing process, for instance, or by adding atmospheric carbon dioxide to the product. But if other points along the chain like transporting consume more energy or give off more carbon dioxide, Andrea notes, the final record may show a decrease rather than a reduction. A product is carbon-reduction only when its production actually removes carbon from the environment, temporarily or permanently.
In the rush to create products that can fight climate change, however, some companies have been charged with “greenwashing”—making products appear more environmentally friendly than they really are. Examples include labeling (用标签表明) plastic garbage bags as recyclable when their whole purpose is to be thrown away; using labels such as “eco-friendly” or “100% Natural” without official certification; and claiming a better carbon footprint without acknowledging the existence of even better choices.
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By listing specific figures. | B．By putting up questions. |
| C．By referring to documents. | D．By offering some solutions. |
| A．Difficult but meaningful. | B．Expensive but promising. |
| C．Energy-saving and affordable. | D．Time-consuming and valueless. |
| A．Using renewable energy in production. |
| B．Changing carbon dioxide into material. |
| C．Reducing carbon footprint in products’ life. |
| D．Cutting down carbon dioxide in transporting. |
| A．Companies are sparing no efforts to reduce carbon use. |
| B．Plastic garbage bags must be labeled as “eco-friendly”. |
| C．Most products are less environmentally friendly than before. |
| D．There is a long way to cut some companies’ ”greenwashing“. |
2 . Carbon dioxide emissions from transportation are now thought as the top source of green-house gases. One of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to reconsider how much, and how often, you travel.
Going car free for a year could save about 2. 6 tons of carbon dioxide, according to a study from the University of British Columbia. How can you stop using a car? Try taking a train, bus or better yet, riding a bike.
But let’s be realistic. You will likely need to use a car this year. So, when you do, here are some tips to make your trip more climate-friendly. Driving efficiently can help to reduce emissions. Go easy on the gas and brakes and drive like you have an egg under your foot. Regularly service your car to keep it more efficient. Keeping your tires pumped correctly can re-duce emissions. Low tire pressure will hurt your fuel economy. Air conditioning and frequent city driving can make emissions go up. So cut down on these as often as possible. Use cruise control (定速巡航) on long drives-in most cases, this can help to save gas. Don’t weigh your car down with extra things that you don’t need on your trip.
Fly often? Taking one fewer long round-trip flight could reduce your personal carbon footprint significantly. If you use public transportation often and fly less, your carbon foot-print might still be relatively sustainable, but if you drive and fly a lot, your emissions will be sigher. If you can’t avoid flying, you can offset them by donating money to sustainable proacts, such as supplying efficient stoves to rural homes, or projects which help farmers deal with crop waste environmentally.
1. What does the author think of going car free?| A．Efficient. | B．Costly. | C．Impractical. | D．Reliable. |
| A．Maintaining your car properly. | B．Using cruise control in the city. |
| C．Stepping hard on the gas and brakes. | D．Geiting rid of all the necessary loads. |
| A．Make up for. | B．Team up with. | C．Set foot in. | D．Put up with. |
| A．How to save fuel when driving cars | B．How to reduce your carbon footprint |
| C．Reduce carbon footprint by all means | D．Lower carbon footprint in transportation |
3 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?| A．They made her decide to leave the country. |
| B．They helped her better understand her father. |
| C．They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
| D．They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Cold weather. | D．Forest damage. |
| A．To create job opportunities for young people. |
| B．To help the children obtain a basic education. |
| C．To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
| D．To promote the protection of their farmland. |
| A．Saving Water in Tunisia | B．Holding back the Sahara |
| C．Planting Trees of Native Species | D．Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
4 . Plant a tree!
What’s causing global warming? Is it man-made? Or are temperatures simply changing naturally? Whatever the case, we can at least try to slow things down. But how?
The Wilderness Project has an idea.
Now, lots of people all over the world have already been planting more trees. In fact, if everyone plants one tree, just one, it will do great good to our environment.
So, what can you do to help?
So, go on, plant a tree…and save the earth!
| A．Maybe you can buy a young tree to grow |
| B．They suggest that we should plant more trees |
| C．Another question is how quickly the sea level will rise |
| D．Many countries are calling on people to plant more trees |
| E．What’s more, they improve human health by producing oxygen (氧气) |
| F．He was nine when he came up with the idea of planting trees around the world |
| G．Farmers don’t want to go and help them plant more trees |
5 . An environmental group in Colombia is leading a project to save wild areas in the San Lucas Mountains with the help of coffee growers.
Since 2016, San Lucas areas have been threatened by mining and coca (古柯) planting Gold miners and coca growers make more money than coffee farms. Now the group WebConserva helps link coffee farmers with coffee processors from around the country in order that they can earn more. At the same time coffee farms can serve as boarders around the forests to protect the biodiversity within.
To date, the project includes 10 families who farm 400 hectares of coffee plants. WebConserva said it hopes, in time, 200 families will be included. At that level. 20,000 hectares of untouched forest could be protected. The families promise not to cut down trees to expand their crops or to hunt wild animals. In return, they receive $300 for 125 kilograms of coffee.
Arcadio Barajas is among those taking part. His coffee farm sets up a barrier between cattle farms and forests where wild animals live, thus reducing the possibility of conflict between cattle farmers and wild animals. “Cutting down the forest to plant coca and killing wildlife were against my faith, and now I feel that growing coffee lets me be a good guard of the land,” he said.
Amnobis Romero is a former coca grower and miner. “Many families depended on illegal activities to support their children years ago. Now, we feel it a duty to look after this biodiversity and leave it for future generations,” he said. Activists want San Lucas to be protected as a national park, but the process has been slow. Carlos Valderrama, director of Webconserva, hopes the project can build production system that will last far into the future. “It protects forests, biodiversity and ecosystems at the same time as improving coffee growers’ quality of life,” he said.
1. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Coffee farmers. |
| B．WebConserva members. |
| C．Gold miners. |
| D．Coca growers. |
| A．By increasing cattle farms. |
| B．By setting up a barrier. |
| C．Ry developing gold mining. |
| D．By encouraging coffee farming. |
| A．Families have enough money for their kids. |
| B．Coffee planting will last for several generations. |
| C．Coffee farming changed the former coca growers’ lives. |
| D．The project benefit the forests more than the local farmers. |
| A．Families protecting wildlife will get very rich. |
| B．WebConserva benefits ecosystems and local people’s life. |
| C．Gold mining and coca farming have been replaced rapidly. |
| D．San Lucas will develop into a national park in the near future. |
6 . The survival of about one fifth of the world’s vertebrates — animals with a backbone — is considered threatened, according to new research published in the journal Science. That’s a large fraction of Earth’s animals, but this new study held some good news too. Conservation efforts by humans have slowed the loss of many species of amphibians (两栖动物), birds, and mammals. Losses in these groups would have been about 20 percent greater had it not been for recent action of protection.
Among the animalconservation success stories is one about birds called Mauritius kestrels (红隼)．In the 1970s, just four of these birds were left in the world. Through a special breeding program, scientists were able to increase their number to about 1, 000 and release them into the wild.
Humpback whales (座头鲸) have benefited greatly from recent conservation efforts as well. They were once on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) list of species threatened with extinction. But the species is now in less danger, thanks to laws that ban whale hunting. The IUCN even moved the humpback into “species of the least concern”．
Over the past 100 years, the white rhino (犀牛) of South Africa has also made an amazing recovery because of habitat protection. The breed multiplied from just 50 animals to about 17, 000. Their home has been turned into a protected area, safe from poachers (people who hunt animals illegally) and other threats.
Stuart Butchart, one of the authors of the new study in Science, is encouraged by the positive effects of conservation. But he says, “Biodiversity (生物多样化) of species is in a frightening state. Its situation is getting worse. But our results show we can turn the situation around.”
New conservation policies hopefully are on the way. One hundred ninetythree countries recently met in Japan at the Convention on Biological Diversity to set goals for preserving threatened wildlife and their habitats. Only 1 percent of ocean and 12 percent of land areas were protected under earlier agreements. Two new goals set by the group are to designate (指定) 10 percent of the world’s ocean and 17 percent of land environments as protected areas to help increase endangeredanimal population.
1. Which of the following is not mentioned in people’s conservation efforts?| A．Habitat protection. |
| B．Breeding programs. |
| C．Laws of banning whale hunting. |
| D．Creation of studying organizations. |
| A．conservation works |
| B．man conquers nature |
| C．animals are more important |
| D．law is fair |
| A．protect ocean habitats |
| B．build land environments |
| C．increase the population of endangered animals |
| D．control animal population |
| A．Though there was a special breeding program, the number of Mauritius kestrels didn’t increase. |
| B．Conservation efforts should not only be made by human beings. |
| C．Humpback whales are not on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list now. |
| D．Because many groups are working to protect wildlife, natural habitats are in good condition. |
7 . The world’s first 3D-printed wood log hive (蜂箱) is a new project developed by the Lacrima Foundation in Edinburgh to reduce the troubling decline of honey bee populations around the world.
The Lacrima Foundation is a charity that is “committed to the conservation and protection of one of the Earth’s most important inhabitant.” The charity teamed up with beekeepers in Europe to work towards a rewilding approach that would offer bees a natural nest habitat and, in turn, create resilience (复原力) among bee communities.
Honey bees are one of the most important pollinators (授粉者), and although they may seem small and insignificant, they are vital for the production of our food — we couldn’t eat without them! However, in recent years, bee populations have been severely impacted by the growing climate emergency and our intensive agriculture practices, including the overuse of pesticides.
With help from local partners, the Foundation created 3D-printed wood log hives, which allow the bees to live in an undisturbed ecosystem where they can carry out their lives. They install these hives in high sections of tree trunks to model natural conditions for the big honey bee populations.
Vince Moucha, chairman of the Lacrima Foundation, said, “Even though there are other people and organisations working in the field of natural beekeeping, the impact, progress and scope of these projects is minimal and slow, due to limited access to resources and clear vision. I am driven by responsibility and decided to act on it due to the urgency and importance of this matter.”
The Foundation will continue to work with beekeepers in the UK, Europe, and the United States to help our bee populations survive and thrive for them and us! Check out the Lacrima Foundation, where you can see their mission and donate to the cause and even get a honey bee gift bracelet in return.
1. What is the project of the Lacrima Foundation aimed at?| A．Increasing the production of human’s food. |
| B．Studying the cause of bees’ population loss. |
| C．Developing new habitats for struggling bees. |
| D．Teaming up with beekeepers for fundraising. |
| A．To help bees avoid pesticides. | B．To adapt bees to the new habitats. |
| C．To test the first 3D-printed hives. | D．To protect bees from climate crisis. |
| A．The progress of other projects. | B．The effect of other organizations. |
| C．The difficult position of bees. | D．The responsibility to care about people. |
| A．Live in harmony with nature. | B．Benefit from the Foundation. |
| C．Help bees survive with beekeepers. | D．Support the work of the Foundation. |
8 . Plastic is low-cost and long-lasting. It is not easily degraded(降解) because natural degradation processes can’t deal with its chemical components(成分). It takes in other ocean-present harmful substances. These chemical and dangerous components are gradually got into the atmosphere with additives such as color, which turns out to be really harmful when the plastic breaks down.
The design and development of new plastic products was sped up after World War II. Life without plastic seemed impossible in the modern age. But even though plastic was quite convenient, the dark side of it was seen as people began to enjoy the throw-away community. Many plastic products, such as plastic bags, have a lifetime of a few minutes to hours. However, they’ll stay in the environment for hundreds of years. We are destroying the very world that nurtured us.
Just 9% of plastic has been recycled and 12% burnt after production rose in the 1950s, which leave s about 79% of the 8.3 billion tons produced sitting in landfills(垃圾填埋场) or damaging our fields, oceans, and waterways. And each year the plastic ends up as contaminants. So to beat plastic pollution, we need to work together.
While plastic burning reduces the amount of waste dumped into oceans and lands, harmful gases are still produced, which also leads to greenhouse gases. However, if we make a firm decision and use modern waste management methods, we will be able to create a safe and healthy world. It is high time that we as responsible global citizens, took on the duty of protecting our environment and made great effort in saving our mother earth, instead of just leaving everything to our government. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s make a promise to successfully deal with plastic waste and protect our world from all possible risks.
1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The harm of plastic. | B．The convenience of plastic. |
| C．The protection of plastic. | D．The use of plastic. |
| A．Happy. | B．Worried. | C．Excited. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．Things that cause pollution. | B．Things that produce plastic. |
| C．Things that cost money. | D．Things that help people. |
| A．A short story. | B．A speech. | C．A newspaper. | D．A notice. |
9 . The amount of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has reached its lowest level since modern records began, for the second year in a row. Sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean’s surface around the planet’s polar regions. It forms at much lower sustained temperatures than freshwater ice does, at around-1.8 degrees Celsius. Sea ice builds up during the winter until it reaches its maximum extent, and then melts (融化) away in the spring and summer until it reaches its minimum extent.
In Antarctica, where summer and winter are relative to the Northern Hemisphere, sea ice normally reaches its maximum extent in September when sea ice covers around 7 million square miles. At its minimum extent at the end of February, historically only around I million square miles remains. Last year the minimum sea ice extent was less than 772, 000 square miles, the lowest total since scientists began recording sea ice extent with satellites in 1979. On 21 February this year, that number had reduced to just 691, 000 square miles, which is roughly 40 per cent less than the average between 1981 and 2010.
The record-breaking minimum was expected after an extraordinarily hot January which was the seventh-warmest since records began 174 years ago. “By the end of January, we could tell it was only a matter of time until the record was broken,” said Will Hobbs, an Antarctic sea ice expert at the University of Tasmania and the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership. Antarctica’s minimum sea ice extent will likely continue to decrease in the coming decades as global temperatures rise as a result of human-caused climate change and more multiyear ice, which acts as a seed for new ice growth, melts away.
Sea ice is crucial for polar predators(捕食性动物) such as penguins in Antarctica and polar bears in the Arctic, which use the ice as a platform for hunting. But the sea ice also helps stabilise ice on Antarctica. “Lower sea ice extent means that ocean waves will pound the coast of the giant ice sheet，further reducing ice shelves around Antarctic,” said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
1. What can we know about sea ice?| A．It can be seen on any ocean’s surface. | B．It forms at about -1.8 ℃. |
| C．It melts all the year round. | D．There is more sea ice than freshwater ice. |
| A．There are two seasons in Antarctica. |
| B．Scientists have been recording the change of sea ice. |
| C．Sea ice in Antarctica has been on decline in the past decades. |
| D．The ecology in Antarctica needs to be improved. |
| A．The earth becomes warmer. | B．Multiyear ice disappears completely. |
| C．Ocean waves destroy the giant ice sheet. | D．Human beings occupy Antarctica. |
| A．Human activities have caused global warming |
| B．Measures should be taken to stop sea ice decreasing |
| C．Sea ice is significant for polar animals |
| D．Antarctica’s sea ice reaches its lowest level since records began |
10 . When she first started learning about the climate change from one of her elders,Fawn Sharp was invited on a helicopter flight over the Olympic Mountains to survey the Mount Anderson glacier.But the glacier was gone,melted by the warming climate.Sharp had a deep sense of loss when she discovered the glacier wasn’t there anymore.
Loss is a growing issue for people working and living on the front lines of climate change.And that gave Jennifer Wren Atkinson,a full-time lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell,US,an idea for a class.
This term,she taught students on the Bothell campus about the emotional burdens of environmental studies.She used the experiences of Native American tribes(部落),scientists and activists,and asked her 24 students to face the reality that there is no easy fix—that “this is such an intractable problem that they’re going to be dealing with it for the rest of their lives”.
Student Cody Dillon used to be a climate science skeptic(怀疑论者).Then he did his own reading and research,and changed his mind.
Dillon wasn’t going into environmental work—he was a computer-science major.Yet,the potential for a worldwide environmental catastrophe seemed so real to him five years ago that he quit his job and became a full-time volunteer for an environmental group that worked on restoration(恢复) projects.
Six months into the work,he decided that Atkinson’s class was just what he was looking for—a place where he could discuss his concerns about a changing climate.
Atkinson said she hoped the class helped her students prepare themselves for the amount of environmental loss that will happen over their lifetimes.
“We are already changing the planet—so many species are going to be lost,displaced or massively impacted,” she said.“The future isn’t going to be what they imagined.”
1. Why did the author mention the case of Fawn Sharp?| A．To lay a basis for Fawn Sharp’s further research. |
| B．To prove Fawn Sharp’s work is similar to Atkinson’s. |
| C．To lead into the issue of loss caused by climate change. |
| D．To show scientists’ concern about the Mount Anderson glacier. |
| A．Simple. | B．Difficult. |
| C．Common. | D．Interesting. |
| A．To explore how different people deal with climate change. |
| B．To get students more concerned about the environmental issue. |
| C．To find solutions to the environmental issue of Olympic Mountains. |
| D．To teach students how to conduct research about environment. |
| A．It made him work as a part-time volunteer for restoration projects. |
| B．It made him realize a planet-wide climate disaster would happen. |
| C．It encouraged him to be more involved in environmental protection. |
| D．It discouraged him to work on restoration projects for the environment. |
