1 . Leading a sustainable(不破坏环境的)lifestyle doesn’t require you to have to make great changes to your home, and this kind of transformation doesn’t have to be an exhausting exercise.     1     Here are three of them.

    2     By using solar energy, you will make your home far more sustainable. So long as there is the sun in the sky, the solar panels atop your house will catch the rays and then transform them into electricity.

Make changes to your water drinking habits. Have you ever thought about how many single-use plastic bottles you use a year? If you should ever perform such a count, you’d find yourself well into three figures, or maybe even four.     3     To be truly sustainable, you have to change your water drinking habits.

    4     More often than not, these types of straws are used only once before being got rid of and taking up valuable landfill space.

Reduce your transport emission. If you want to be a more sustainable traveler, you should seek to reduce the carbon emissions you produce by avoiding driving. Of course, avoiding motor vehicles entirely isn’t always going to be a practical choice for you. There’re, however, still things you can do to be more sustainable.     5    

You have the power to make a sustainable change to your lifestyle—take the above advice and don’t waste it

A．Turn to solar energy.

B．Avoid wasting valuable resources.

C．The best thing you can do is cycle, walk or run.

D．Two choices you have are sharing cars and taking public transport.

E．There’re many easy and simple things you can do to be more sustainable.

F．Another change you can make in this instance is to stop using plastic straws.

G．Drinking water like this might be quick, easy and convenient but it’s not sustainable.

2 . On a sunny afternoon, Andreas Fath climbed out of a river in Paducah. A small crowd was on hand to witness his setting a new world record. This man had just finished swimming the entire length of the Tennessee River—1,049 kilometers. And he did it in just 34 days!

As a chemist from Hochshule Furtwangen University, the 52-year-old man had taken on this swim for science. His primary goal was not to get his name into Guinness World Records. What really drove this swim was a desire to make people aware of the seriousness of water pollution.

Fath’s crew included his family. Martin Knoll, who helped organize Fath’s swim, also took par t. Knoll is an environmental scientist at the University of the South. He describes this swim as a vehicle for getting people interested in water quality and how we pollute water without realizing it.

It took Fath 34 days to swim the river’s length. Along the way, his crew took measurements of the water’s temperature and pH. They also recorded weather and the speed of the river’s currents (涌流). As for the Tennessee River, they collected daily water samples. A small plastic device attached to one leg of Fath’s wet suit sampled the chemical pollutants (污染物) through which he swam. Finally, Fath’s goal is to use such data to know what on earth results in water pollution. Then he wants to find ways to keep those chemicals out of the water.

Back in Germany, Fath and his students have finished examining their data. They plan to publish their findings soon. Identifying materials that hide in the river isn’t only important for the animals that live there. “It’s also a way to protect human health,” says Fath.

1. What was the main purpose of Andreas Fath’s long swim?

A．To make history.	B．To set a new world record.
C．To bring attention to water pollution.	D．To provide inspiration for scientific research.

2. What did Martin Knoll think of this long swim?

A．It was tiring.

B．It was painful.

C．It was interesting.

D．It was meaningful.

3. Why did Andreas Fath and his crew collect data along the way?

A．To identify the sources of pollution.	B．To learn a lot more about the currents.
C．To know chemicals’ effects on water.	D．To get pollutants removed from the water.

4. What is Andreas Fath expected to do next?

A．Analyze the collected data.	B．Get the findings published.
C．Study how to improve health.	D．Identify materials in other rivers.

3 . Nearly 40 years ago, Peter Harrison, a marine ecologist witnessed the first recorded large-scale coral bleaching（珊瑚白化）event. Diving in the Great Barrier Reef（大堡礁）, he was shocked by the scene before him. "The reef was made up of healthy corals and badly bleached white corals, like the beginnings of a ghost city," he says. Just months before, the same site was filled with colorful tropical life.

"Many of the hundreds of corals that I'd carefully tagged and monitored finally died," he says. "It was shocking and made me aware of just how weak these corals really are.”

Coral exists together with photosynthetic algae（藻类）, which live in its tissues and provide essential nutrition（and coloration）. But high temperatures and other stresses can turn algae poisonous. When this occurs, the algae may die or be removed by the coral, a process known as bleaching because the coral's clear tissue and white calcium carbonate skeleton（碳酸钙骨骼）are exposed. If the coral can't reestablish its link with algae, it will starve or become ill.

The widespread destruction Harrison saw in 1982 was repeated on many other Pacific Ocean reefs that year and the next. In 1997 and 1998 the phenomenon went global, killing some 16 percent of the world's corals. With rising temperatures, pollution, disease, increased ocean acidity, invasive species, and other dangers, Harrison's ghost cities are expanding

Scientists suppose that about four decades ago severe bleaching occurred roughly every 25 years, giving corals time to recover. But bleaching events are coming faster now—about every six years—and in some places soon they could begin to happen annually.

"The absolute key is dealing with global warming," says marine biologist Terry Hughes. "No matter how much we clean up the water, the reefs will die." In 2016, a record-hot year in a string of them, 91 percent of the reefs that consist of the Great Barrier Reef bleached.

1. Peter Harrison was shocked when diving in the Great Barrier Reef, because___________.

A．the reefs were made up of precious corals	B．the corals were ruined badly and quickly
C．he found a ghost city with tropical life	D．he saw the corals he had tagged before

2. Paragraph 3 is mainly about___________.

A．the causes of coral bleaching	B．the weakness of corals and algae
C．the elements that make algae die	D．the process of building a link with algae

3. The phrase "Harrison's ghost cities" in paragraph 4 most probably refers to___________.

A．global warming

B．the polluted ocean

C．the white corals

D．invasive species

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．With algae living in its tissues, coral's white skeleton is exposed.

B．Solving global warming is the real solution to coral bleaching.

C．The reefs die because the water hasn't been cleaned thoroughly

D．The severest coral bleaching occurred about four decades ago.

4 . 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。

Over the last 200 years, humans have become the dominant species on earth. As a result, the natural world     1    （suffer）greatly. Today, almost half of the planet’s land is used for agriculture and food     2     （produce）, forcing our wide spaces into dramatic retreat(消退). The global rate of extinction is     3     （high）than it’s ever been, while the climate crisis continues to speed up.

Therefore, many environmentalists are turning to “rewilding”,     4     is aimed at saving our disappearing biodiversity. So, what     5     （exact）is rewilding? In theory, the concept is simple: restore(修复)land,     6     let nature take back control. Currently, there are hundreds of rewilding projects taking place across Europe,     7     （spread）from the UK all the way down to the eastern Balkans.

For these projects to succeed, they need     8     special sort of person——highly skilled, and fiercely passionate individuals, or groups, willing to devote     9     （they）to the restoration of the wild. Because humans are responsible     10     the terrible state of the natural world, only significant human effort will make positive changes to the damage done.

5 . Nature is all about relationships: the interconnected links between the living and lifeless, and how they harmonize beautifully into a whole that might not be immediately apparent to us humans, as the complexities of the world sometimes escape the grasp of our relatively short-sighted understanding. Perhaps that's why the urgency of the climate crisis and other environ-mental issues don't truly hit home for some; because that important data is presented in a dry, factual way that doesn't touch the deeper parts of our collective soul, in a way that would move us to realize what is being lost.

Clare Celeste is an environmentally-minded artist creating artworks that aim to highlight the precious biodiversity of the planet. Using paper that is complexly cut and then hand-assembled piece by piece, Celeste forms imaginary landscapes of plants and animals that are folded or pressed between glass.

Growing up in Brazil, Celeste says that her earliest childhood memories were of green, tropical ecosystems slowly being eaten up by the rapid expansion of nearby cities.

Celeste said, “When I made a series of combinations, I realized that many of the species in the illustrations had already gone extinct. Humans have wiped out 68 percent of all our planet's biodiversity since 1970, so working with old illustrations can be very heartbreaking as much of the diversity in these beautiful old illustrations has been wiped out by human activities.”

Celeste explains some of the motivations behind this series of paper works: “I wanted to convey the beauty of our planet's plants and animals, while also introducing a more architectural or human-made element with the geometric (几何图形的) patterns. Having grown up in Brazil, I was surrounded by dense urban spaces that often had rich jungle growth just wanting to break through the concrete architecture. I suggest we go back to our love: our love of nature, of our children, of future generations. Because when we love something deeply, we are required to act—to save it when it is threatened.”

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．People are connected with each other.

B．People find data on nature boring to study.

C．People can't solve the climate crisis on their own.

D．People don't fully understand environmental issues.

2. What did Celeste remember about her childhood?

A．Cities were rich in green plants.

B．Buildings were decorated with plants.

C．Urbanization destroyed the local biodiversity.

D．Nature was a mixture of natural artworks.

3. What can be inferred from Celeste's words in paragraph 4?

A．Most species die without adapting to environment.

B．Humans feel painful at the loss of species.

C．Her paper cuts represent the extinction of species.

D．Human activities have severely damaged biodiversity.

4. What motivates Celeste to create her works?

A．The desire to protect the biodiversity.

B．The desire for a good childhood memory.

C．The idea of imagining landscapes.

D．The hope of preserving natural beauty.

6 . I looked out of the door of my 100 year-old house and saw my newly built garden. I realized nothing is rubbish. I was full of_________and appreciation.

I_________to look at the things that we usually think of as_________—plastic bags, polluted water, rubber bands, and newspapers, clothes and furniture we_________. I also began to think, act and live according to a belief that all things have the_________of being reused as long as we try to_________it. And I explored the worth of_________. I mean recycling isn't just about_________rubbish like putting glass and paper in_________bins. It also requires creativity, commitment and even love.

My neighbors would put the autumn__________by the roadside to be picked up by the garbage truck. This didn't__________with my newfound concept of recycling trash, so I made a new__________with moving boxes and put up a__________saying, ''Dump（倾倒）leaves here". I watched carefully through the autumn as my neighbors__________the leaves in the new garden and I also watered the leaves__________with rainwater and collected dogs' waste as fertilizer, Then I__________flower seeds. Finally, I had a new__________garden, full of colorful flowers.

Nothing has to be really__________. If you try hard enough, everything can be recycled. I even used my bath water to water my garden, though it might be a little__________for my friends. But I think if we all can turn waste, sometimes a little dirty, into__________, the world will be a much better place.

1.

A．joy

B．sympathy

C．doubt

D．regret

2.

A．refused

B．hesitated

C．liked

D．started

3.

A．wealth

B．garbage

C．investments

D．necessities

4.

A．packed up

B．brought up

C．threw away

D．gave away

5.

A．value

B．request

C．confusion

D．consequence

6.

A．own

B．find

C．forget

D．lose

7.

A．collecting

B．recovering

C．recycling

D．competing

8.

A．sorting

B．picking

C．spotting

D．recording

9.

A．uniform

B．broken

C．limitless

D．separate

10.

A．fruit

B．rice

C．leaves

D．vegetables

11.

A．compare

B．deal

C．communicate

D．fit

12.

A．platform

B．garden

C．picture

D．schedule

13.

A．building

B．tent

C．sign

D．show

14.

A．piled

B．polished

C．decorated

D．cleaned

15.

A．unwillingly

B．hardly

C．seriously

D．casually

16.

A．submitted

B．sowed

C．removed

D．reserved

17.

A．smelly

B．annoying

C．imaginary

D．attractive

18.

A．useless

B．careless

C．priceless

D．defenseless

19.

A．pleasant

B．vivid

C．violent

D．disgusting

20.

A．trouble

B．treasure

C．terror

D．trade

7 . Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity (生物多样性) is under fire-literally. In the last two decades, deforestation (滥伐) and forest fire ate into the ranges of thousands of plant and animal species in the Amazon rainforest.

The extent of the damage is closely tied to the practice of laws in Brazil aimed at protecting the forest from widespread logging (伐木). The findings illustrate the key role that forest use laws have in the fortune of the Amazon rainforest.

Threats to the survival of this biodiversity could have long-term effects. Biodiversity promotes a forest’s resistance to drought. If fire-impacted area continues to rise, not only does the Amazon lose forest cover, but also some of its capacity to deal with the changing climate.

“With fires advancing deeper into the rainforest, more species will experience fire for the first time. These species have not evolved (进化) under conditions with regular fires, so the consequences for those species, like increased risk of population declines or extinction, can be severe,” says Xiao Feng, a biogeographer at Florida State University.

“But we don’t know how fires are impacting the biodiversity across the Amazon basin,” says Feng. The Amazon is a huge area. It’s generally impossible to go there and count the number of species before the fire and after it. So Feng and his team instead investigated how Amazonian plant and animal species’ geographic ranges have been affected by recent fires. The team gathered range maps of 11,514 plant and 3,079 animal species and compared these maps with satellite images of Amazon forest cover from 2001 to 2019. Those images let the team track how logging and fires have led to the reduction of rainforest.

Starting in 2009, when a series of rules aimed at reducing deforestation started being performed, the extent of fires generally decreased. Then in 2019, fires rose back up again, co-occurring with a relaxation of rules. Much of the fire-driven forest loss was concentrated along the more intensely logged southern reaches of the rainforest.

The change suggests effective forest protection laws can slow this trend of destruction and are essential for preventing the region from reaching a tipping point.

1. What does Feng mean based on paragraph 4?

A．Not all species will survive the fire.

B．The forest badly needs regular fires.

C．All species will die out after the fire.

D．The fire will change survival skills of species.

2. How did Feng’s team draw the conclusion about fires’ effect on biodiversity?

A．By taking field trips.	B．By doing experiments.
C．By referring to geography books.	D．By making comparisons.

3. Why did fires occur more frequently in the Amazon forest in 2019?

A．Severe drought kept on striking.

B．The new species had no time to evolve.

C．Rules of controlling logging weren’t strictly carried out.

D．The rainforest’s resistance to the changing climate weakened.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A science magazine.	B．A personal diary.
C．A travel brochure.	D．A research plan.

8 . Sunscreen protects our skin from sunburn. But did you know that it is harmful to coral (珊瑚) living in the ocean？

Some chemicals in sunscreen, such as benzophenone (二苯甲酮), can kill coral. Every year, about 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen will flow into coral areas, according to the US National Park Service.

About one and half years ago, Zhang Baoxin, 17, who studies at Guangdong Experimental High School, read about this in an article. Then she had an idea – to make an environmentally friendly sunscreen to protect the marine environment.

To make this happen, Zhang read lots of literature and then put forward a new formula (配方). She mixed natural plant oils with safe and commonly-used sunscreen ingredients, such as titanium dioxide (二氧化钛) and zinc oxide (氧化锌) powder .

She tested about 10 kinds of plant oils, including jojoba oil (荷荷巴油) and coconut oil, to figure out whether they can take in sunlight. She then used a microscope to find out if the oil could be mixed with the powder. After trying about 20 formulas, Zhang found a jojoba oil formula that is effective, cheap and easy to make.

Zhang wrote a paper to explain her findings with her experimental process and data. The project made Zhang a nominee (候选人) of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, an award to celebrate teenagers who help solve major water challenges. She was the only nominee from the Chinese mainland in 2020.

After this successful experiment, Zhang made some samples (样品) and printed out flyers (传单) for her new formula. She gave them out to people at swimming pools and water parks. “With my formula, anyone can make sunscreen at home. You just need a blender to mix the oil and the powder,” she said.

Zhang wants to study environmental science in college. “I want to use my knowledge to make a better world,” she said.

1. What inspired Zhang to make a new kind of sunscreen?

A．Her desire to protect sea species.

B．Her wish to study environmental science.

C．A book published by the US National Park Service.

D．A project at Guangdong Experimental High School.

2. What is the main idea of paragraphs 4-5?

A．Features of the new sunscreen.

B．Differences between different ingredients.

C．The process of developing the new sunscreen.

D．Difficulties Zhang met when making the new sunscreen.

3. What happened after Zhang’s successful experiment?

A．She was accepted into a famous university.

B．She won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

C．She handed out her samples to people.

D．She continued to make other environmentally friendly products.

4. Which of the following best describes Zhang Baoxin?

A．Curious and cheerful.

B．Helpful and sociable.

C．Diligent and cautious.

D．Creative and responsible.

9 . I’m Naomi Shah, and today I’ll be talking to you about my research involving indoor air quality and asthmatic（哮喘） patients. 1.6 million deaths worldwide. One death every 20 seconds. People spend over 90 percent of their lives indoors. And the economic burden of asthma go beyond that of HIV and tuberculosis（肺结核） combined.

Now these statistics had a huge impact on me. I started researching, and I soon found that indoor air pollutants were the main causes. But soon after, I developed a novel mathematical model that essentially measures the effect of these environmental pollutants（污染物） on the lung health of asthmatic patients.

I have a volunteer subject in the audience today, Julie. And all of Julie’s data has been pre-entered into my interactive software model. So Julie’s going to her doctor’s office to get treated for her asthma. And the doctor has her sit down, and he takes her peak breath flow rate. I’ve entered it up into the interactive software model. I’ve also entered in her age, her gender and her height. Any users just clicked on “lung function report” and it’ll take them to this report that I created. When the doctor sees this , maybe he would say, “Wow, we need to give her steroids（类固醇), medication and so on.”

But I want everyone here to reimagine a world where instead of prescribing steroids and medication, the doctor turns to Julie and says, “Why don’t you go home and clean out your air cleaner. Clean out the air dusts in your home, in your workplace, in your school. Stop the use of incense and candles. And if you’re remodeling your house, take out all the carpeting and put in hardwood flooring.” Because these solutions are natural, these solutions are sustainable, and these solutions are long-term investments -- long-term investments that we’re making for our generation and for future generations.

So I’m very passionate about this research and I really want to continue it and expand it to more diseases besides asthma, as well as more pollutants. To know more relationship between them is my main task. But before I end my talk today, I want to leave you with one saying. And that saying is that genetics loads the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger（扳机）.

1. What does the underline word “subject” probably refer to in Paragraph 3?

A．The research leader.	B．The research participant .
C．The research instructor .	D．The research designer.

2. What is the writer’s attitude towards the research?

A．Doubtful	B．Favorable
C．Critical	D．Disapproving

3. What suggestion may the author give to Julie to ease her symptom(症状)？

A．She had better use incense and candles.

B．She should have the air cleaner replaced .

C．She has got to take steroid and medication.

D．She is supposed to carpet the floor with hard wood.

4. What is the main purpose of the last paragraph ?

A．To show the author’s passion.

B．To stress the significance of the environment.

C．To emphasize the urgency to deepen the research.

D．To introduce the research between diseases and pollutants.

10 . TEDEd Hi Katherine!

This December, the TED-Ed team will host a series of 4 calls for students to learn about climate change, as part of our larger TED Countdown Initiative (方案)

Details about call series:

Each week during the month of December, we’ll meet at the same time on Zoom (an online meeting APP). Students should join in the calls on their own. We’d like students to be able to attend at least 3 of the 4 calls.

Register your students’ interest:

As we plan the time when we will meet with students, we’d love to see how many students are interested in this opportunity. Please share this interest with your students so they can register their interest. In this form we’ll ask them for their parent’s email address for permission.

Share this interest form with your students:

https∶//airtable. com/shr4U7DICbrdHuaGM

More about TED Countdown:

On January 25, we’re hosting the Countdown Summit in Scotland— the firstTED conference focusing on climate solutions. In April, TED hosted an online meeting and announced our plan to help the planet. And as always，education plays an important role in this mission (使命). That’s why we have chosen talks for students to do together virtually for a deeper understanding of this global issue and solutions.

We hope your students join us!

Please note that this event is only for studenst aged 3-19, in high school and below!

1. How many call should students attend at least in December?

A．3

B．4.

C．7

D．12

2. What should the students do before the Countdown Summit?

A．Work out plans for the team.	B．Attend online calls with their parents.
C．Register their inerest in an onlin form.	D．Send an email to parents to ask for permisson.

3. What is the focus of the Countdown Conference to be held in Scotland?

A．Education mission.	B．Virtual reality.
C．Global climate solutions.	D．Events organizing.