1 . The sunflower sea star has been listed as a critically endangered species following a groundbreaking population study led by Oregon State University (OSU) and The Nature Conservancy.
“These giant sea stars used to be easy to find and were a hit with divers. Unfortunately, your chances of finding one now are next to nothing in most of the areas near the United States—this listing is one step to extinction—and I don’t think they’re coming back without help,” said OSU’s Sarah Gravem, a research associate in the College of Science and the lead author of the study.
Populations of the sunflower sea star suffered dramatic crashes because of a marine (海洋的) wildlife epidemic event, which began in 2013. Scientists used more than 61,000 population surveys from 31 data sets to calculate a 90.6% decline in the sunflower sea stars and estimated that as many as 5.75 billion animals died from the disease, whose cause has not been determined. Moreover, the research showed no sign of population recovery in any region in the five to seven years since the event.
Sunflower sea stars are a key catcher of purple sea urchins (海胆) and the sea star decline has helped the increase in the urchin population in many regions. Too many urchins are linked to a decline in kelp forests（海藻林) already facing pressure from marine heat wave events, making the future uncertain for ecosystems that provide habitat for thousands of marine animals and help support coastal economies.
“Because most people are not out in the ocean every day, we don’t realize how much it’s being changed and impacted by humans. We need to think about how to keep our ocean healthy. While reducing the release of carbon dioxide is the most pressing need, rebuilding key catcher populations, like the sunflower sea star, can be an important piece of the puzzle too,” said study co-author Sara Hamilton, a Ph. D. candidate in the OSU College of Science.
1. What can we infer about sunflower sea stars from Sarah Gravem’s words?| A．They present a danger to divers. |
| B．They cannot recover on their own. |
| C．They cannot adapt to the new environment. |
| D．They attract many tourists to the United States. |
| A．Human beings’ overfishing. |
| B．The arrival of a new species. |
| C．The rising ocean temperature. |
| D．The occurrence of a marine disease. |
| A．Their common enemies are sea urchins. |
| B．Sunflower sea stars feed on the sea keep forests. |
| C．Sunflower sea stars help preserve the sea kelp forests. |
| D．The sea kelp forests provide habitats for sunflower sea stars. |
| A．More species should be introduced to the ocean. |
| B．Scientists play the most important role in protecting the ocean. |
| C．The influence of human activities on the ocean has decreased since 2013. |
| D．More action should be taken to increase the number of sunflower sea stars. |
2 . Tips for Green Travel with Kids
Travelling doesn’t mean letting go of all the eco-friendly choices we work so hard to achieve in our daily life. Here are a few tips for green travel with kids.
Booking nonstop flights whenever possible will reduce carbon emissions (碳排放). If the closest local airport doesn’t have nonstop flights to a certain place, check with other local airports to see if nonstop flights are available.
It’s easy when travelling to pull in to fast food restaurants for snacks.
| A．Walking is good for your health. |
| B．Try to cut back to save water and energy. |
| C．But you can pack healthy food from home. |
| D．Travelling is a great chance to introduce your kids to the world. |
| E．Reusable water bottles are easy to bring along wherever you travel. |
| F．Save energy by turning off the hotel room lights when you head out for the day. |
| G．You might have to drive a bit farther, but saving on carbon emissions makes it worthwhile. |
3 . A Plastic Ocean is a film to make you think.Think,and then act.We need to take action on our dependence on plastic.We’ve been producing plastic in huge quantities.Drinking bottles,shopping bags and even clothes are made with plastic.
The film begins as a journey to film the largest animal on the planet,the blue whale.But during the journey the filmmakers make the shocking discovery of a huge,thick layer of plastic floating in the Indian Ocean.
In the film there are beautiful shots of the seas and marine life.
They present short-term and long-term solutions.These include avoiding plastic containers and recycling as much as you can.The filmmakers also stress the need for governments to work more on recycling programmes.
We make a shocking amount of plastic.Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year,and at least 8 million of those are dumped into the oceans.The results are disastrous,but it isn’t too late to change.
| A．This causes them to travel around the world to look at other affected areas. |
| B．Once you’ve seen the film,you’ll realize it is time to do our part. |
| C．It has raised public concern all over the world. |
| D．We live in a world full of plastic,and only a small amount is recycled. |
| E．But the film doesn’t only present the negative side. |
| F．In conclusion,we only have one earth to live on. |
| G．These are contrasted with dumps of plastic rubbish. |
It’s a wildlife expedition (远征) that has captivated (使着迷) the globe: a herd of 16 elephants trekking (跋涉) more than 300 miles from their home in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. The herd’s trek began in March last year when 16 elephants
“We can’t ignore the effect of rapid development of the local economy on the loss of wildlife habitat,”
China’s wild elephants
The big fear is that the intensity of conflict between humans and elephants can start as just a nuisance and quickly grow to the point where people or elephants get killed.
5 . No doubt that humans have widely changed, developed, and exploited (开发) much of the natural world for our own ends. But how much of the land surface remains free of our often-harmful influence?
In a new study, scientists compared figures from four different sets of data using different kinds of methods and classification (分类) systems to answer this question. On average, the researchers say roughly half (48 to 56 percent) of the world’s land shows “low” influence of humans. While the figures may inspire many—stressing the vast expanse of significantly untouched lands that can still be protected through conservation measures—the study also shows just how much of the Earth has already been occupied and used by humans.
In fact, only about a quarter (20 to 34 percent) of the planet’s ice-free land surface shows “very low” signs of human influence, the researchers say, and the parts of the planet that we have left alone up until now constitute (构成) some of the least livable places on Earth. In other words, whether through urbanization, forestry, agriculture or other means, humans have applied the most influence on biodiverse land that presented ripe and easy opportunities for immediate human needs; in contrast, roasting deserts in the world’s hottest places, or frozen wastelands in its coldest spots, have been ignored.
Even so, the researchers say the results shown here give us a strong, clear marker that we can use to help structure existing and future conservation efforts by preventing disturbance on existing low influenced areas, meanwhile, recovering areas for conservation in land that has already been exploited too much.
“The encouraging takeaway from this study is that if we act quickly and decisively (果断地), there is a slim window in which we can still conserve roughly half of the Earth’s land in a relatively untouched state,” says biologist and lead author of the study, Jason Riggio.
There’s a chance, right now, to draw a line in the sand, and say “no more”.
1. Why was the new study carried out?| A．To find out why humans exploit nature. |
| B．To figure out the land free from human influence. |
| C．To prove humans are harmful to nature. |
| D．To clarify the Earth is not occupied by humans completely. |
| A．Woodless lands. | B．Ice-free lands. |
| C．Places with biodiversity. | D．Places with warmth. |
| A．Make use of the unlivable area through different means. |
| B．Remove the influence on the previous disturbed area. |
| C．Attempt to have no bad effect on the “untouched” land. |
| D．Reconstruct the overexploited land with forest and agriculture. |
| A．It should be urbanized immediately. | B．It should be covered with plants. |
| C．It should be free from humans and animals. | D．It should be undisturbed and preserved. |
6 . Over the last two decades (十年), the Earth has seen an increase in vegetation (植被) and China and India are leading the increase in greening on land. The result comes mostly from tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture (集约农业) in both countries.
Researchers from Boston University found that global green area has increased by 5% since the early 2000s, an area equal to the size of Amazon rainforest. Among the increased area, China and India contribute to about 33%, especially China, with 25% itself. China’s great contribution came mostly from its programs to protect and expand forests, which is about 42%. These programs were developed in an effort to reduce the effect of desertification (沙漠化), air pollution and climate change.
Another 32% of the greening change in China, and 82% in India, resulted from intensive agriculture of food crops. The land area used to grow crops in China and India has not changed much since the early 2000s. Yet both countries have greatly increased the total green area and food production in order to feed large populations. The lead author Chi Chen of Boston University said,“That is a surprising finding, since it is generally believed that land degradation (退化) in populous countries is usually more serious.”
Rama Neman, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, saw a positive message in the new findings. “Once people realize there is a problem, they tend to fix it.” However, the researchers rang bells as well. They pointed out that the gain did not necessarily (不一定，未必) fill up the loss of natural vegetation in tropical regions (热带地区) like Brazil and Indonesia.
1. What’s the first paragraph mainly about ?| A．The earth is becoming a green land. |
| B．China and India are forest countries. |
| C．China and India matter in greening the Earth. |
| D．China and India develop intensive agriculture well. |
① Reducing air pollution.
② Increasing rich land for crops.
③ Helping with climate control.
④ Controlling the desertification.
| A．①②③ | B．①③④ |
| C．①②④ | D．②③④ |
| A．Brazil and Indonesia do not protect their forests. |
| B．The findings discouraged belief of a green world. |
| C．Humans are creative enough to solve all problems. |
| D．More efforts are needed to protect natural vegetation. |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．An interview. | D．A geography textbook. |
1.举出人类活动引发的灾害实例；
2.给出一些必要的防范措施；
3.号召大家行动起来拯救地球，保护环境。
注意
1.词数80左右；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数
Dear friends,
I am writing to call on everyone to pay attention to the present disasters caused by human activities.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That’s all! Thank you!
8 . In August, 2018, about 36 people were invited to a kitchen in San Francisco. California, for a tasting event. On the menu Fried chicken. “This is some of the
The compliment (称赞) was special
Memphis Meats is one of several companies in the world making cellular (蜂窝状的) in meat, also called lab - grown meat. Many people think it's better for the earth than raising animals for food.
The world's population is
Traditional meat production also requires lots of cows. The animals release tons of methane (甲烷). This gas traps (陷阱，圈住)
Not everyone believes that cellular meat will be
| A．cheapest | B．best | C．softest | D．hardest |
| A．assuming | B．imagining | C．considering | D．wondering |
| A．planted | B．grown | C．consumed | D．experienced |
| A．birds | B．humans | C．pigs | D．animals |
| A．Gradually | B．Instantly | C．Immediately | D．Suddenly |
| A．Some | B．Most | C．Others | D．All |
| A．respected | B．expected | C．calculated | D．supposed |
| A．feed | B．satisfy | C．hold | D．supply |
| A．less | B．fewer | C．better | D．more |
| A．water | B．resources | C．pollution | D．heat |
| A．takes over | B．takes on | C．takes in | D．takes up |
| A．therefore | B．instead | C．however | D．yet |
| A．fit | B．helpful | C．bad | D．harmful |
| A．points at | B．points out | C．pulls up | D．pulls in |
| A．forwards | B．home | C．wrong | D．backwards |
9 . Paper is one of our oldest, simplest and most important inventions. But it also presents a danger to the world in two significant ways. First, the making of paper requires the loss of millions of trees each year. Between 2001 and 2019, the world lost 386 million hectares of forest. Of the trees that were cut down, 42% went to paper production. And worldwide use of paper is expected to double in the next 40 years. Clearly, the planet cannot sustain such a high rate of forest loss.
The second great problem with paper is what happens once it is no longer useful. A huge quantity of wastepaper ends up in dumps and landfills (垃圾填埋场), where it can produce harmful gases. Paper in landfills leads to the release (释放) of methane, a gas that is a significant contributor in global warming.
One simple solution can greatly reduce both of these problems: paper recycling. Paper is mainly made from cellulose (纤维素), which makes up the cell walls of trees and many other plants. Because of its structure, cellulose can be used repeatedly in papermaking. So far, trees are the only source of cellulose that can fill the massive demand for paper products. Therefore, recycling paper is simply one of the best ways to save trees.
Thanks to advances in processing, recycled paper isn’t the dull-colored stuff many of us are familiar with any more. It now can offer the same print performance as non-recycled paper.
Effective recycling requires a consistent effort. The way to begin is with education and understanding. Once enough people realize the need for recycling, more effective recycling systems can be carried out. The massive loss of trees affects everybody on earth. Everyone should do their part to recycle paper and encourage government and industries to do the same.
1. What does the author want to express in paragraph 1?| A．Consequences resulting from forest loss. |
| B．The significance of paper in daily life. |
| C．The disadvantages of current paper production. |
| D．The severe situation caused by papermaking. |
| A．It releases smelly gases. | B．It results in global climate change. |
| C．It pollutes the nearby land. | D．It may lead to fire accidents. |
| A．It produces cellulose to make more paper. | B．The structure of cellulose makes it possible. |
| C．The color of recycled paper is different. | D．It produces cellulose without using trees. |
| A．To introduce paper recycling technology. | B．To stress the threat of global warming. |
| C．To appeal to people to recycle paper. | D．To describe the considerable need for paper. |
10 . Metaphorically speaking, the vast tropical rainforest in South America’s Amazon River basin is often called the “lungs of the planer”. Some people claim that the Amazon Rainforest alone is responsible for 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen, but is this really true? As the region experiences more fires in 2019 than it has seen in almost a decade, some people are wondering what would happen to Earth’s oxygen supply if the whole of the Amazon were to burn away. Would Earth actually lose 20 percent of its oxygen, or are there other unexpected consequences that would await us instead?
Relationships between tropical forests and oxygen are complicated. Growing plants produce oxygen, and tropical rainforests are huge contributors, but dead and rotting plants—as well as burning plants—consume oxygen to release carbon dioxide as a by-product during decomposition and combustion (燃烧). Often the ratio between a plant producing oxygen in life and consuming oxygen in death is 1:1, so many atmospheric scientists don’t see the Amazon, or even Earth’s forests as a whole as net oxygen producers, because all plants die sooner or later.
Instead, Earth’s oxygen mainly comes from marine algae (海藻) Marine algae bloom in the oceans, sting on the surface and taking advantage of the nutrients that are stirred up in seawater and pulling in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. While algae live, they use carbon dioxide to grow, and they release oxygen into the atmosphere. However, when they die, algae do not decompose on the ocean surface, so they do not draw from the atmosphere the same amount of oxygen that they produce in life. Instead, algae sink. Some dead algae consume oxygen dissolved in seawater and largely or completely decompose as they sink, releasing the carbon stored in their bodies into the water. However, others sink deep enough fast enough that they fall below the ocean’s oxygenated layers before they decompose in earnest. They land on the ocean floor almost completely, so the carbon in their bodies stays put. Over millions of years, this process results in a net oxygen gain in Earth’s atmosphere.
Burning the Amazon won’t have a significant effect on oxygen levels, but it is warned that burning will add enormous amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which will further strengthen global warming and produce more severe climate changes. And there are other very serious long-term consequences to destroying Earth’s most biodiverse region.
1. Why does the writer mention “unexpected consequences” in paragraph 1?| A．To convince the readers of topical forests’ importance. |
| B．To inform the readers of other discoveries about tropical forests. |
| C．To argue against the “lungs of the planet” metaphor. |
| D．To present a more balanced view on the importance of tropical forests. |
| A．The oxygen consumed by the dying plants cancels out what they produce in life. |
| B．The plants in Amazon Rainforest tend to disappear before they are fully grown. |
| C．Tropical forests have a complex relationship with oxygen generation. |
| D．Carbon dioxide is only a by-product of the process of decomposition. |
| A．That marine algae produce more oxygen than plants. |
| B．That some dead marine algae don’t break down. |
| C．That marine algae spread fast in the ocean. |
| D．That some dead marine algae don’t reach the ocean bottom. |
| A．Mineral accumulation. | B．Carbon fixation. |
| C．Water purification. | D．Marine nutrition. |
