1 . A new study warns that pollution caused by the world’s food production system is also a major driver of rising temperatures on the planet besides the use of fossil fuels.
The study found that if the world food system stays on its present growth path, it will produce nearly 1.4 trillion metric tons of greenhouse gases over the next 80 years. That pollution is expected to come from fertilizers (肥料) used in agriculture, mismanaged soil, food waste and methane gas released from cows and other animals that are raised. Other causes include operations of turning forests into farmland.
The researchers predict that even if emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and oil were stopped now, emissions from the world food system would make it impossible to achieve a main goal of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change. The goal is to keep rises in the Earth’s temperature during this century well below 2 degrees Celsius.
The UN has said that in order to stay below the 1.5 degrees Celsius level, emissions must fall at least 7.6 percent each year through 2030. The new study calls for immediate “improvements in farming practices, as well as changes in what we eat and how much food we waste”, to help reach the Paris Agreement goals.
Jason Hill, a professor of biosystems engineering, said in a statement that most of the efforts aimed at reducing climate change center on reducing the use of fossil fuels, and that the research clearly shows that the food system has a much greater effect on climate change than is widely known. Hill also noted that fixing the problem would not require the world’s population to completely stop eating meat but eat better, healthier foods. People can improve how they grow foods. And they can waste less food.
The researchers say such efforts are achievable and can also lead to many other improvements beyond controlling climate change. These include making humans healthier, reducing water pollution, improving air quality, preventing animals’ dying out and making people make more money from their farm.
1. Which part of food production causes the pollution?| A．Destruction of forests. | B．Overuse of food waste. |
| C．Growth of food production | D．Mismanagement of raising animals |
| A．Emissions may fall 7.6% yearly. | B．Climate change targets will be revised. |
| C．Global temperatures will rise by over 2℃. | D．Fuels such as coal and oil may not be used. |
| A．It is a bit difficult to improve. | B．Its bad effects aren’t fully noticed. |
| C．Its importance is not widely known. | D．It causes more pollution than fossil fuels. |
| A．People will live a longer life | B．Farm profitability will be improved. |
| C．Water pollution will be stopped. | D．Global temperatures will fall greatly. |
1. 告知同学们蜜蜂数量大幅减少的现状;
2. 列举蜜蜂对人类的重要作用(提供蜂蜜、给花授粉等) ;
3. 呼吁同学们采取措施保护蜜蜂。
注意:
1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇: pollinate flowers给花授粉
Dear friends,
I’m Li Hua. Now I would like to share with you a piece of news I have read recently.
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3 . “How many of us as children have stared up at a church-like top of a giant tree and climbed it in wonder, which is a rally special part of our lives?” asks Bill Laurance, a tropical ecologist at James Cook University. “The leaves of big trees in forests are spreading out in all directions. We’re faced with organisms that have evolved for long periods of ecological stability.”
“There’s a lot to discuss on the issue,” says David Lindenmayer, a conservation ecologist at the Australian National University. “Climate change will mean that, in some forests, big trees won’t reach the same sizes they used to.” The effects of climate change, including long droughts, more invasive species and so on increase the simple physical challenges that big trees face in pulling water from their roots to their leaves and withstanding windstorms.
Lindenmayer and Laurance define “large, old trees” as the largest five percent mature trees within a species. The flexible definition means that in some forests, the large, old trees might be only 20 meters tall and 100 years old.
These large, old trees control the surrounding plant communities, affect water and nutrient distribution, and provide food and shelter for wildlife. “They’re really the breadbaskets of the forest,” says Laurance. “This is a very environmentally and ecologically important group of organisms, and they need special care and handling.” Determining the distribution and habitat requirements for large, old trees in the landscape is the first step towards ensuring their survival, “We have to ensure that what we’re thinking is long-term, to match the way these trees have existed for hundreds or even thousands of years,” says Laurance. “It’s going to be a real challenge to keep some places where there is still wildlife and the big church-like trees that we all really care about.”
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By definition. | B．By comparison. |
| C．By quoting someone’s words. | D．By drawing some conclusions. |
| A．They are affected by various factors. |
| B．They have become shorter but thicker. |
| C．They easily pull water from their roots. |
| D．They grow taller because of climate change. |
| A．The plants around control trees’ survival. |
| B．It is necessary to take good care of big trees. |
| C．Big trees mainly depend on wildlife for survival. |
| D．Planting big trees is the first step in forest protection. |
| A．Protect Forest Giants |
| B．Keep Ecological Stability |
| C．Deal with Forest Organisms |
| D．Fight Against Climate Change |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
One day a man was wondering how to deal with the fallen leaves he had been collected.
He thought of a way to burn it up. And such he did. Just at that moment, Jack saw the fire with heavy smoke but he hurriedly asked his grandpa to come and see it. His grandpa managed put out the fire with water. Jack and his grandpa blamed the man over burning the leaves. They told him that burning leaves gave off poisonous gases, what could cause pollute.
“In order to protect the environment, a best way is to have them burying in the earth,” said Jack’s grandpa. The man felt sorry for what he had done.
Monarchs (黑脉金斑蝶) are the only butterflies known to make two-way migrations, as birds do. In the late summer and early fall, the butterflies typically leave southern Canada and northern and central
6 . The Best Eco-Friendly Gifts
For the eco-conscious, we’ve rounded up our favorite eco-friendly gifts to send to your love.
Reusable Produce Bags (Price: $ 33)
Website: Sears. com
This pack of seven teusable bags are plastic free and made from 100 percent biodegradable cotton. The set includes one cotton net bag, three produce bags, and three food bag. Double stitching and durable seams mean these bags are built to last, and they’re machine washable for easy cleaning.
Wood Bookmarks with Tassels (Price; $ 25)
Website: Etsy. com
Teachers often like to hand out small gifts to students at the end of the year, and this set of wooden bookmarks is a sustainable, affordable way to let students know you care. (Plus, they’re a great reminder to read over holiday breaks!) The bookmarks come with colorful tassels as well, making it easy to mark your place while reading.
Personalized Notebook (Price: $ 13)
Website: Journal. com
This customizable journal is a great gift to jot down notes, used as a daily thought journal, or as a place to keep travel memories or even grocery lists. The cover is made from eco-friendly heavy cotton paper. The pages are recycled cartridge paper that’s perfect for fountain pens and ink as well as other media.
Greener Bamboo Cutting Board (Price: $ 90)
Website: Amazon. com
This bamboo cutting board is naturally bacteria resistant and made from 100 percent Moso bamboo that’s grown in organic soil. One side of the board has a deep juice-catching groove that’s perfect for capturing juices as you cut. After cutting, simply flip the board to the other side for a beautiful presentation large enough for veggie arrangements, watermelon, and more.
1. What can remind you to read?| A．Reusable Produce Bags. | B．Personalized Notebook. |
| C．Wood Bookmarks with Tassels. | D．Greener Bamboo Cutting Board. |
| A．Etsy. com. | B．Sears. com. | C．Journal. com. | D．Amazon. com. |
| A．They all are expensive. | B．They are popular with students. |
| C．They are made of cotton paper. | D．They are sustainable and eco-friendly. |
In hundreds of cities around the world, people can use a car
Car sharing works like this: people pay a fee
Car sharing works well for several reasons. Some people only need to drive from time to time. Usually, people only need a car for special reasons like moving things or
Members also don’t have to wait in line or fill out
Car sharing also
8 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to cleanup floating (浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device (设备) to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.
Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device which is called Interceptor. It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $775, 660, but the cost might drop as production increases.
Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again, ”said Slat.
The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The devices ends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.
1. What do we know about Interceptor?| A．It needs solar power to work. | B．It is mainly used in the oceans. |
| C．It is being under test. | D．It can help sort waste. |
| A．The waste. | B．The oceans. |
| C．The machines. | D．The rivers. |
| A．To ensure the device’s safety. | B．To send operators text messages. |
| C．To empty the waste. | D．To serve as containers. |
| A．A novel. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A diary. | D．A guidebook. |
9 . Don't worry about why the chicken crossed the road—the bigger question is whether it'll make it at all.
When officials began issuing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, Shilling and his colleagues quickly realized they were witnessing a novel experiment:
The answer is a lot of things, including fewer accidents and lower greenhouse gas emissions from cars. In their latest report, the researchers found that driving less has also led to a dramatic decrease in roadkills.
"
The team documented about a third fewer kills in the four weeks following shutdowns. If such a slowdown persisted for a year, 27.000 large animals would be saved in just those three states.
People are now returning to the roads as stay-at-home orders are lifted.
| A．What happens when we all start driving way less? |
| B．But Shilling hopes some of the lessons might stick. |
| C．It's a good idea to stay knowledgeable about the risks. |
| D．The idea is that most of the animals died a senseless death. |
| E．It's actually the largest protection action that the U.S. has ever taken. |
| F．In California, the researchers also looked specifically at mountain lions. |
| G．Every year, millions of animals get killed by vehicles in the U.S. |
10 . The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has identified 23 species it says are now extinct. Most of the species had been found in states in the southeastern U.S. Eleven species lived in Hawaii or Guam.
Perhaps the best-known species on the list is the ivory-billed woodpecker. There had been unconfirmed sightings of the bird over the past 20 years. That led to search operations in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. But none of the woodpeckers were found.
Other species on the list had only been identified in the wild a few times and never seen again. One example is the flat pigtoe found in Alabama and Mississippi. In such cases, the species likely started disappearing shortly after being discovered.
In declaring a species extinct, the Fish and Wildlife Service removes it from its Endangered Species Act (ESA). The purpose of the ESA is to call attention to species with the greatest need for protection.
All 23 species were thought to have at least a small chance of survival when added to the ESA list. Only 11 species have been previously removed because of extinction in the nearly half-century since the ESA was signed into law.
The Fish and Wildlife Service warned that climate change, combined with other environmental pressures, could make such disappearances more common. As an example, it said nearly 3 billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970.
Cornell University bird biologist John Fitzpatrick is a leading figure in the hunt for the ivory-billed woodpecker. He told The Associated Press he thinks it was too early to declare the birds extinct. “Little is gained and much is lost,” he said of the declaration process.
Fitzpatrick led a 2005 study that claimed the woodpecker had been rediscovered in eastern Arkansas. He said removing a species from the ESA reduces public attention that is needed to help continue environmental protection efforts.
1. What do we know about the search operations in the four states?| A．They had been working in the past 20 years. |
| B．They were conducted in the southeastern U.S. |
| C．They had found 23 species in Hawaii or Guam. |
| D．They had never found any ivory-billed woodpeckers. |
| A．It is a mistake to add it to the list. | B．The species has been out of danger. |
| C．The species has been declared extinct. | D．It has been lost for nearly half a century. |
| A．Climate change. | B．Serious air pollution. |
| C．Humans’ hunting for meat. | D．Breakdown of food chains. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Opposing. | C．Supportive. | D．Ambiguous. |
