1 . Students at St. Stanislaus High School in Mississippi are among the volunteers along US coasts raising oysters (牡蛎) to help restore, or repair weakened reefs (礁). Oyster reefs are an important part of coastal environments. Each oyster cleans 95 to 190 liters of water a day. The reefs provide living space for shrimp, crabs and fish. They also protect coastlines. In the states of Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama, now there are more than 1,000 oyster gardens. Most of them are in wire cages hanging from private ports.
Colin Wood, one student looking after the St. Stanislaus garden, said he was excited by the hands-on work. “I didn’t realize oysters had a big influence on the environment. And 50,000 to 55,000 adult oysters grown here each year go to reefs in Mobile Bay,” he said.
In the 1950s, an average of 37,400 tons of oysters were taken yearly from partly salty waters in the US. But US oyster harvests fell sharply in the 1990s. Data showed the cause of the drop could be overharvesting, pollution, pests and other problems. Then oyster gardening started.
Oyster gardening uses many of the same methods as farming. Farmers around the country grow oysters near the surface of water. Oysters develop much faster where the water holds more food they eat and enemies can be more easily removed. But the oysters are not being grown to be eaten. Oyster gardens get pulled from the water every seven to ten days. The time out of the water is used to clear out small animals, keep oysters from growing through the wires, and dry and clean off plant-life growing on the wires.
Bob Stokes, the director of the Galveston Bay Foundation in Texas, says, “Oyster gardening is as much about education as it is restoration.”
1. How does Colin Wood feel about his work?| A．Simple. | B．Tiring. | C．Creative. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．The use of oyster gardening. |
| B．The influence of oyster harvests falling. |
| C．The reason for starting oyster gardening. |
| D．The problems oyster gardening is facing. |
| A．To repair the cages. |
| B．To pick weak oysters out. |
| C．To examine the water quality. |
| D．To keep a good environment for oysters. |
| A．What oyster gardening is |
| B．Oyster reefs are becoming endangered |
| C．Volunteers keep oysters to restore reefs |
| D．Why oysters are growing popular in the US |
1.简述校园环境的现状；
2.建设绿色校园的具体建议 (不少于两点)。
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3 . After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolvers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Wildlife research in the United States. |
| B．Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area. |
| C．The conflict between farmers and gray wolves. |
| D．The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park. |
| A．Damage to local ecology. |
| B．Preservation of vegetation. |
| C．A decline in the park’s income. |
| D．An increase in the variety of animals. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncaring. | C．Positive. | D．Disapproving. |
4 . All living things on Earth need water to live. Yet humans are facing serious water problems. According to the United Nations, today over 663 million people live without a safe water supply close to home.
To remind people of the importance of water, the UN first set up World Water Day in 1993. It is on Mar 22 each year. From Mar 22 to 28 is also the China Water Week. The first year’s theme is “Waste water”. It tried to call people to reuse waste water instead of wasting it.
In Australia people make good use of waste water. Most Australians have a grass lawn around their home instead of washing the car in the street. Many of them wash it on the lawn to keep the grass longer so that it covers the ground and reduce evaporation.
Rainwater may seem useless to you. But you can also reuse it. People in Germany collect rainwater to wash their toilets. Most houses in the country that are built in the last few years have rainwater collection devices (设备). Rainwater is collected from the root, and then linked to the toilet. But if you don’t have the device just put a bucket (桶) under your roof when it rains.
Water makes up 71 percent of Earth’s surface. But we can only use a very small part of it. Only about 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water. It’s in lakes, rivers and underground.
Over 80 percent of the w
aste water in the world goes back into the nature. It has not been cleaned and pollutes the rivers and lakes. Unsafe water makes around 842,000 people die each year.
By 2030, about half of the world’s population could be facing water problem. By 2050, as many as seven billion people across the world could not have enough water supplies. The world’s population might be 9.3 billion by then.
1. The China Water Week in 2017 tries to___________.| A．collect rainwater to wash their toilets |
| B．remind people of the importance of water |
| C．put a bucket under your roof when it rains. |
| D．call people to reuse waste water instead of wasting it. |
| A．sit down | B．cut down | C．put down | D．write down |
| A．To share his rich knowledge about water. |
| B．To warn more people to save water. |
| C．To show how water problems change the world. |
| D．To tell people how to discover safe water supply. |
| A．Water in the world has become less and less. |
| B．Unsafe water makes so many people die. |
| C．Our planet will face serious water problems. |
| D．Learning to save water to protect our planet. |
5 . The last complete ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed (倒塌). The Milne Ice Shelf is
Above normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the shelf are all parts of the
“It was only a
| A．at the edge of | B．in front of | C．at the back of | D．at the end of |
| A．rather than | B．less than | C．other than | D．more than |
| A．situations | B．conditions | C．elements | D．problems |
| A．combines | B．covers | C．evaluates | D．obtains |
| A．seriously | B．especially | C．naturally | D．nearly |
| A．down | B．below | C．up | D．above |
| A．reduced | B．broken | C．threatened | D．brought |
| A．which | B．that | C．where | D．whose |
| A．uncovered | B．covered | C．broken | D．spotted |
| A．program | B．progress | C．project | D．process |
| A．question | B．thing | C．matter | D．concept |
| A．possibly | B．likely | C．probably | D．surely |
| A．simplified | B．launched | C．confirmed | D．accompanied |
| A．research | B．search | C．culture | D．business |
| A．dreams | B．ideas | C．attitudes | D．memories |
6 . China is showing the world its great resolve in the global climate campaign with concrete and selfmotivated efforts as well as serious commitment.
At the opening ceremony of the Paris climate summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping restated China’s plan made in June to cut its carbon emissions( 排放)per unit of GDP by 6065 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, and increase nonfossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent.
With a large population, China is facing increasing resource limits, severe environmental pollution and a worsening ecosystem, and its citizens are also becoming increasingly aware of environmental problems. Suffering environmental problems and seeing the efforts as important to transforming its economic growth pattern, the country has much at risk if climate change is left unattended.
Actually, climate change efforts are already included in China’s mediumand longterm program of economic and social development, and ecological efforts are the clear characteristics in China’s 13th FiveYear Plan(20162020)．
Although it is and will be a developing country for a long time to come, China has been actively involved in the global campaign against climate change, now topping the world in terms of energy conservation and use of new and renewable energies.
However, China’s development rights need to be respected. It is unfair to overstress China’s status as one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters and regard it as the major part of responsibilities in the global fight against climate change.
It is worthy of notice that China’s emissions of greenhouse gases per person are far lower than those of developed countries, especially the United States, although rapid economic expansion and its population base have made it one of the biggest producers of the gases.
To show its great resolve, Beijing in September also announced the establishment of an independent SouthSouth cooperation fund of ￥20 billion to help developing countries affected by global warming.
While China is eagerly accomplishing its policy commitments, developed countries should stop questioning China’s commitment to fighting climate change and pointing fingers, and start shouldering their due responsibilities instead.
1. China is selfmotivated to transform its economic pattern in order to ________．| A．top the world |
| B．fight against climate change |
| C．solve its population problem |
| D．respond to pressure from developed countries |
| A．China |
| B．the United States |
| C．economic expansion |
| D．the population base |
| A．China will completely use nonfossil fuels by 2030 |
| B．China will carry out its plan by stopping its development |
| C．Chinese emit more greenhouse gases than Americans on average |
| D．some developed countries are not taking on their due responsibilities |
7 . Suppose you find a bright yellow bike on a street corner in the city. You hop on (跨上) it and
You
The
Portland’s
| A．drive away | B．ride away | C．ride back | D．run away |
| A．No one | B．Someone | C．Anyone | D．Everyone |
| A．whether | B．so | C．because | D．though |
| A．have to | B．don’t have to | C．can’t | D．can |
| A．expensive | B．crowded | C．free | D．common |
| A．protect | B．control | C．make | D．bring |
| A．out of | B．into | C．up | D．near |
| A．ended | B．started | C．changed | D．refused |
| A．public | B．private | C．clean | D．dirty |
| A．but | B．as | C．until | D．or |
| A．next | B．last | C．best | D．first |
| A．break | B．make | C．discuss | D．follow |
| A．buy | B．repair | C．produce | D．steal |
| A．citizen | B．street | C．idea | D．school |
| A．looked up | B．made up | C．put up | D．set up |
8 . According to the World Food Program, one third of the food of the world is lost or wasted. It’s up to some 1.3 billion tons every year, worth about $1 trillion. Moreover, a report in 2021 Sugests that 8 to10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (排放) are associated with wasting food.
“For our parents and the older generations,‘clearing your plate’ is more about saving some food for a rainy day.”Liu Jichen, founder and CEO of Clear Plate, an anti-food wasting program, told us.
The idea for Clear Plate came to Liu after one dinner at a restaurant in late 2017. The customers who finished all the food they’d ordered would be given a card, and then they could exchange their cards for rewards. “Yet it was limited to one restaurant’s actions, so I thought, why not try it on a larger scale (规模)? And how?” Liu wondered. And then he teamed up with some of his friends,founded a startup and developed the Clear Plate applet.
“The Clear Plate team is trying to deal with the issue (问题) of food waste. After a meal, users of WeChat take photos of their clean plates, post these on WeChat, collect points, and then exchange their points for gifts or charity donations,” Liu explained.
Starting in 2018, Clear Plate has now more than 4.3 million users with about 45 million participations in anti-food wasting actions, reducing food waste by 1,700 tons and carbon emissions by 6,600 tons. Liu’s determination represents a small change of the Chinese lifestyle and more people are turning toward a healthier, greener and more low-carbon lifestyle.
1. How much food of the world is wasted every year according to the World Food Program?| A．About 1 billion tons. | B．About 1.3 billion tons. |
| C．About 8 billion tons. | D．About 10 billion tons. |
| A．A plate. | B．A point. | C．A photo. | D．A card. |
| A．In 2016. | B．In 2017. | C．In 2018. | D．In 2021. |
| A．The program Clear Plate. |
| B．The World Food Program. |
| C．The world food wasting. |
| D．An introduction to WeChat. |
注意：
1. 词数100左右。
Thoughts Upon the International Biodiversity Day
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10 . 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. |
