1 . Along the coast of Cornwall, the UK, by the white beaches near St Austell, a superhero stands tall. What is this superheroes weapon of choice? She has two, actually: in one hand, a large recycling bag, and in the other, a heavy-duty litter picker.
Meet Pat Smith, the 71-year-old eco-warrior (环境卫士) also known as “Action Granny”. Pat set herself a task to clear the plastic from 52 beaches in Cornwall and Devon. The former teacher jumped into action after watching a film called A Plastic Ocean, which described the range of plastic pollution damaging the world's oceans and killing sea life.
“It was really life-changing for me,” says Pat. “Until that point, I hadn’t realized there was a problem with plastic in the ocean. I went home from the theater and was really bothered. We have been consuming so much plastic that we are causing an ocean crisis. I said to myself ‘I’ve got to do something about it.’”
From January 1 until December 31, 2018, Pat cleaned one beach every week. Yet even with the year over and her task completed, she hasn’t stopped. Pat is also picking up litter — and so are her children in the playground, “My daughter-in-law said last week that she had organize a lifter-picking activity in the playground with other children. That just shows you that when people are exposed to what you do, they are very likely to follow in your footsteps.”
Joining Pat today is Marta, a research fellow at the Basque Center for climate Change, who has travelled from Spain to Cornwall to show support for Pat's action. She also explained her intention of cooperation to Pat. As an environmentalist herself Marta knows how important it is to work hand in hand, and she would like to show her sincerity.
1. How does the author start the text?| A．By raising a question. | B．By giving a definition. |
| C．By describing a situation. | D．By introducing a familiar film. |
| A．Her title as a superhero. | B．Her using too much plastic. |
| C．Her previous job as a teacher. | D．Her watching A Plastic Ocean. |
| A．It need urgent support. | B．It has its own limitations. |
| C．It’s a time-consuming thing. | D．It is influential among her kids. |
| A．To ask for support from Pat. |
| B．To advocate Pat and work together with her. |
| C．To raise people’s awareness of climate change. |
| D．To show the importance of protecting the environment. |
| A．A retired teacher’s war on plastic waste. |
| B．The cooperation between Pat and Marta. |
| C．A considerate granny and national superhero. |
| D．AN elderly granny’s study on climate change. |
2 . Do you remember that story about the little girl who goes to visit her grandmother and meets a big, bad wolf along the way? Or perhaps you remember the story of the three little pigs who build three houses to protect themselves from a wolf?
The reality behind the fairy tales is that people feared wolves. Hunting and killing originating from hatred almost caused the animals to go extinct. Wolves needed a fairy mother —and that is what Brookfield Zoo in Chicago is for wolves and their puppies.
Being a fairy mother to wolves is not easy. Brookfield Zoo replaced iron-barred cubicles with safe habitats, which are not merely appealing to the zoo visitor, but more importantly, are contributing to the normal behavior and reproduction of the animals. The wolves have a large area to run and play in, places to hide and sleep in, and hills to climb with lots of grass and trees around them.
A fairy mother’s job is to make dreams magically come true and part of the magic is being invisible. The people who take care of the wolves hide themselves and the food and toys in places where the wolves can dig them up and find them on their own, so they feel more like they are living in nature.
Fairy tales are just stories. Wolves don’t dress up as grandmothers, nor have they blown a house down. Wolves aren’t scary at all, and in fact, they are more afraid of humans than we are of them.
The wolves have a great life at Brookfield Zoo. Maybe they will stay at Brookfield Zoo, but it would be nice to see them live back in nature again, too. If we all work together, maybe we can make this fairy tale come true for the wolves.
1. What are the two stories used to show?| A．Wolves are dangerous to humans. | B．People’s false impression of wolves. |
| C．The important role of Brook field Zoo. | D．Wolves are a popular subject of literature. |
| A．Visitor-interactive. | B．Mountainous. | C．Remote. | D．Natural-looking. |
| A．They are wolf researchers. | B．They are welcomed by the wolves. |
| C．They play hide-and-seek with the wolves. | D．They keep themselves out of the wolves’ sight. |
| A．Living in the wild. | B．Being taken good care of. |
| C．Staying at Brookfield Zoo. | D．Being afraid of humans no more. |
| A．What fairy tales tell us. | B．Where wolves can be safe. |
| C．How we can protect ourselves. | D．Whether we should be friends with wolves. |
Kevin Randall, a biology teacher at Grandville High School, runs the environmental club at the high school, which has around 2,000 students. The club is known as the GHS Green Team, and it aims to raise awareness among students. It also works on projects to reduce the environmental footprint of the building itself.
One of the club's recent projects focused on reducing waste in the school cafeteria. Randall said their cafeteria supervisor told them that the school went through 54,000 plastic forks every year. The club applied for a financial help, built recycling centers for the cafeteria, and purchased metal silverware.
And now every student uses a durable metal for kora spoon instead of disposables(一次性用品) , “and that's just one way we're trying to capture the low-hanging fruit, if you will,” Randall said.
The efforts of Randall and his students have earned Grandville High School the Michigan Green School certification from the state. In addition to their work reducing waste in the cafeteria, the GHS Green Team has also built a garden with flowers and vegetables on campus, and leads cleanups on site and out in the community. Over the years, Randall and his students have also been working on raising money to install solar panels(太阳能板) on the roof of the high school.
Randall said he was motivated to take the lead on environmental issues for his school because he wanted his students to have someone to turn to in the building who understands what's at stake(利害攸关) when it comes to climate change.
“And I also felt like I needed to do more in my life for my own two children at home,” Randall added, “They need to know that their dad is working as hard a she can to reduce the effects of climate change, and to spread the word, and to make sure that other students out there are leaning about this just the way they are at home.”
1. What is the purpose of the GHS Green Team club?(No more than 10 words)2. How did the club help the school cafeteria reduce waste?(No more than 15 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined part the low-hanging fruit in Para 3?(No more than 5 words)
4. What’s the fourth paragraph mainly about?(No more than 10 words)
5. Suppose you are in charge of a similar Green Club, what activity will you organize? And why?(no more than 20 words)
4 . With an eye for style and a heart for the environment, 18-year-old Alexis Giger launched a do-it-yourself blog aimed at “reducing your environmental impact fashionably”.
The idea was sparked (激发) by the ecology unit in her biology class at Charlotte Latin School last year, she said, which taught her about issues like deforestation and habitat destruction. “I started thinking about what I could do to stop the wastefulness in my immediate community,” the fashion lover said.
The blog, ecouturieracg.wordpress.com, aims to make reusing thrift store (旧货店) finds or last season’s pieces easy and fashionable while cutting down on the resources consumed by garment production, Alexis said. Through online research, she discovered that a simple cotton T-shirt takes more than 700 gallons of water to make.
“It made me realize that the fashion industry consumes huge amounts of natural resources as it relies on producing garments quickly and in large supply – many of the garments are only intended to be worn three or four times,” she said.
Alexis had a number of tools to help her get started. Her mom, Kimberly, taught her to sew when she was 5. Her grandmother taught her to crochet (钩边) around the same time. Alexis said she also gained technical knowledge and inspiration from her part-time job at a clothing company that creates theater wardrobes for schools and drama productions.
Prior to the blog launch, she spent several months illustrating “recycling” projects by creating photo tutorials. Though Ecouturier hasn’t been online long, she’s been getting positive feedback. “I’ve had people come up to me in the hall and say, ‘Hey, I saw your blog. I’m working on one of the projects right now,’” Alexis said.
She said she hasn’t bought a brand-new piece of clothing since last July, and her thrift store shopping has paid off with finds such as a $5 (31 yuan) dress she wore to homecoming.
“Taking an hour from Saturday afternoon to make something for yourself can really have an impact on the environment. A little change every day can really add up,” Alexis said.
1. What inspired Alexis to launch a do-it-yourself blog?| A．Her talent at making handicrafts. |
| B．Her fascination with the fashion industry. |
| C．Her part-time work experiences. |
| D．Her growing concern for the environment after taking a biology class. |
| A．It sells items made from thrift store finds. |
| B．It teaches people how to choose thrift store goods. |
| C．It encourages people to remake their clothing in a cool way. |
| D．It informs people of the bad effects of deforestation and habitat destruction. |
| A．In order to promote her blog, Alexis is spending a lot of time online every day. |
| B．The projects on Alexis’ blog have convinced some people to try recycling clothes themselves. |
| C．Alexis has been dreaming of working in the fashion industry since she was a child. |
| D．To start the blog, Alexis learned from her mother and grandmother how to sew and crochet. |
| A．attitude |
| B．advice |
| C．response |
| D．approach |
| A．Creative and responsible. |
| B．Smart and cooperative. |
| C．Independent and humorous. |
| D．Fashionable and amusing. |
5 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.
Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sights on our “consumer culture”. Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day are growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.
We clearly have a growing resource problem. The produces we make, buy, and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live. But to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.
While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. For most, Christmas isn’t an add-on to an already heavy shopping year. In fact, it is likely the only time of year many have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.
This is particularly, true for Boxing Day, often the target of the strongest derision(嘲弄) by anti-consumerists. While we may laugh at the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the one chance to buy items they’ve needed all year. As Leigh Phillips argues, “this is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”
Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account that those shopping on Boxing Day are only a small part of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring such people as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own￡1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?
Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choices, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problems. It is no wonder one is changing their behaviours—or that environmental destruction continues without any reduction in intensity.
1. It is indicated in the 1st paragraph that during the holiday season, many consumers .| A．ignore resource problems |
| B．are fascinated with presents |
| C．are encouraged to spend less |
| D．show great interest in the movement. |
| A．has targeted the wrong persons |
| B．has achieved its intended purposes |
| C．has taken environment-friendly measures |
| D．has benefited both consumers and producers |
| A．madness about life choices |
| B．discontent with rich lifestyle |
| C．ignorance about the real cause |
| D．disrespect for holiday shoppers |
| A．anything less than a responsibility | B．nothing more than a bias |
| C．indicative of environmental awareness | D．unacceptable to ordinary people |
6 . At one time，computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written，stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of the use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down. "says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week, Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just an on-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.
Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. "I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling, "said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true?| A．Documents can be stored in computers electronically. |
| B．Computers effectively cut down the use of paper. |
| C．A large number of e-mails need to be printed in reality. |
| D．Printers are in a greater demand owing to the Internet. |
| A．the rapid development of small businesses |
| B．the opening up of new markets |
| C．the printing of high quality copies |
| D．the increased use of the Internet |
| A．they see a growing market for printers |
| B．printers in many offices are working overtime |
| C．small companies need more hard copies |
| D．people are concerned about the environment |
| A．to encourage printing more quality documents |
| B．to develop new printers using recycled paper |
| C．to find new materials for making paper |
| D．to plant more fast growing trees |
| A．Computers and Printers |
| B．E-mail and the Business World |
| C．Internet Revolution and Environment |
| D．Modern Technology and New Markets |
7 . How does an ecosystem(生态系统) work? What makes the populations of different species the way they are? Why are there so many flies and so few wolves? To find an answer, scientists have built mathematical models of food webs, noting who eats whom and how much each one eats.
With such models, scientists have found out some key principles operating in food webs. Most food webs, for instance, consist of many weak links rather than a few strong ones. When a predator(掠食动物) always eats huge numbers of a single prey(猎物), the two species are strongly linked; when a predator lives on various species, they are weakly linked. Food webs may be dominated by many weak links because that arrangement is more stable over the long term. If a predator can eat several species, it can survive the extinction(灭绝) of one of them. And if a predator can move on to another species that is easier to find when a prey species becomes rare, the switch allows the original prey to recover. The weak links may thus keep species from driving one another to extinction.
Mathematical models have also revealed that food webs may be unstable, where small changes of top predators can lead to big effects throughout entire ecosystems. In the 1960s, scientists proposed that predators at the top of a food web had a surprising amount of control over the size of populations of other species—including species they did not directly attack.
And unplanned human activities have proved the idea of top-down control by top predators to be true. In the ocean, we fished for top predators such as cod on an industrial scale, while on land, we killed off large predators such as wolves. These actions have greatly affected the ecological balance.
Scientists have built an early-warning system based on mathematical models. Ideally, the system would tell us when to adapt human activities that are pushing an ecosystem toward a breakdown or would even allow us to pull an ecosystem back from the borderline. Prevention is key, scientists say, because once ecosystems pass their tipping point(临界点), it is remarkably difficult for them to return.
1. What have scientists discovered with the help of mathematical models of food webs?| A．The living habits of species in food webs. |
| B．The rules governing food webs of the ecosystems. |
| C．The approaches to studying the species in the ecosystems. |
| D．The differences between weak and strong links in food webs. |
| A．has a wide food choice |
| B．can easily find new prey |
| C．sticks to one prey species |
| D．can quickly move to another place |
| A．The prey species they directly attack will die out. |
| B．The species they indirectly attack will turn into top predators. |
| C．The living environment of other species will remain unchanged. |
| D．The populations of other species will experience unexpected changes. |
| A．Uncontrolled human activities greatly upset ecosystems. |
| B．Rapid economic development threatens animal habitats. |
| C．Species of commercial value dominate other species. |
| D．Industrial activities help keep food webs stable. |
| A．By getting illegal practices under control. |
| B．By stopping us from killing large predators. |
| C．By bringing the broken-down ecosystems back to normal. |
| D．By signaling the urgent need for taking preventive action. |
8 . Tiny microbes(微生物) are at the heart of a new agricultural technique to manage harmful greenhouse gas. Scientists have discovered how microbes can be used to turn carbon dioxide into soil-enriching limestone(石灰石), with the help of a type of tree that grows in tropical areas, such as West Africa.
Researchers have found that when the Iroko tree is grown in dry, acidic soil and treated with a combination of natural fungi(霉菌) and other bacteria, not only does the tree grow well, it also produces the mineral limestone in the soil around its root.
The Iroko tree makes a mineral by combining Ca from the earth with CO2 from the atmosphere. The bacteria then create the conditions under which this mineral turns into limestone. The discovery offers a new way to lock carbon into the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In addition to storing carbon in the trees’ leaves and in the form of limestone, the mineral in the soil makes it more suitable for agriculture.
The discovery could lead to reforestation(重新造林) projects in tropical countries, and help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the developing world. It has already been used in West Africa and is being tested in Bolivia, Haiti and India.
The findings were made in a three-year project involving researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Granada, Lausanne and Delft University of Technology. The project examined several microbiological methods of locking CO2 as limestone, and the Iroko-bacteria way showed best results. Work was funded by the European Commission under the Future&Emerging Technologies(FET) scheme.
Dr Bryne Ngwenya of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the research, said:“By taking advantage of this natural limestone-producing process, we have a low-tech, safe, readily employed and easily operating way to lock carbon out of the atmosphere, while improving farming conditions in tropical countries.”
1. The passage is mainly introducing ________.| A．some useful natural fungi and bacteria |
| B．a new way to deal with greenhouse gas |
| C．a newly-found tree in West Africa |
| D．the soil-enriching limestone created by scientists |
| A．Most tiny microbes like living in dry, acidic soil. |
| B．CO2 can be broken down by natural fungi and bacteria. |
| C．The more greenhouse gas is, the more active tiny microbes become. |
| D．Tiny microbes get along well with the Iroko tree in special soil. |
| A．Carbon dioxide. |
| B．Carbon. |
| C．Soil. |
| D．Limestone. |
| A．The action of the tiny microbes can increase the oxygen in the earth. |
| B．Researchers have done the experiment on trees in Africa for three years. |
| C．Researchers tend to use natural power to solve their problem. |
| D．West Africa is one of the most polluted areas all over the world. |
| A．can be used to improve the farming land |
| B．can save a lot of seriously destroyed woods |
| C．has been popularized in Bolivia, Haiti and India |
| D．should be spread all around the world in the future |
9 . Eco City Farms is an educational nonprofit organization. It seeks to empower the community by teaching economic development, job training and a healthier way of living. The group has set up farms near automobile repair businesses and fast food stores in urban neighborhoods.
Social activist Margaret Morgan-Hubbard founded Eco City Farms. She says that lack of fresh produce is a major health problem for children and their families living in Maryland. “What’s critical is that 70 percent of the people in these towns are either overweight, have some illnesses, for example, diabetes, or have other kinds of diet-related ailments because they don’t have access to healthy food.
Eco City Farms offers several programs for agriculture, food and finding jobs with environment-friendly businesses. People can also learn how to cook healthier foods and teach others how to prepare meals. On a recent day, Philip Sidibe demonstrated his cooking skills. He prepared Aloco, a popular food in Cameroon where he grew up. He and other young people not only cook their food, they also grow it in a large garden.
Tameka Barbour-Gaskins lives in Autumn Woods. She says her whole family is eating healthier meals because of the local produce. “I like junk food. I like quick meals. Not easy to just go from eating a certain way all your life to switching over to being healthier… With the urban garden here, with my son learning, he can help me switch around my style of eating. I want a healthy family.”
Margaret says the urban garden is an agent for change and the young people are its newest supporters. “Our program is about planting seeds. It’s about planting seeds not just in the ground, but in other human beings so that the movement can grow and it’s really exciting because these young people will be working with us throughout the year to help plan the actual farm and to finally own it.”
1. What does Eco City Farms aim to do? (No more than 20 words)2. What does the underlined word “ailments” in Paragraph 3 mean? (1 word)
3. According to Margaret, what’s the major danger to people’s health in Maryland? (No more than 10 words)
4. How do people benefit from the programs offered by Eco City Farms? (No more than 15 words)
5. What do you think of Eco City Farms? Please explain. (No more than 15 words)
10 . Everything about nuclear energy seems terrifically big: the cost, construction and decommissioning—and the fears of something going badly wrong.
The future, however may well be much smaller. Dozens of companies are working on a new generation of reactors that, they promise, can deliver nuclear power at lower cost and reduced risk.
These small-scale plants will on average generate between 50MW and 300MW of power compared with the 1,000MW-plus from a conventional reactor. They will draw on modular manufacturing techniques that will reduce construction risk, which has plagued larger-scale projects. Supporters believe these advanced modular reactors (AMRs)—most of which will not be commercial until the 2030s—are critical if atomic power is to compete against the rapidly falling costs of solar and wind.
“The physics hasn’t changed. It’s about much cleverer design that offers much-needed flexibility in terms of operation,” said Tim Stone, long-term industry adviser and chairman of Nuclear risk Insurers, which insures nuclear sites in the UK.
Since the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011, safety fears have threatened nuclear power. But the biggest obstacle today is economic. In western Europe, just three plants are under construction: in the UK at Hinkley point C in Somerset; at Flamanville in France; and at Olkiluoto in Finland. All involve the European Pressurized Reactor technology of EDF that will be used at Hinkley Point. All are running years late and over budget. In the US, the first two nuclear projects under way for the past 30 years are also blowing through cost estimates.
The UK, which opened the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor in 1956, is one of the few western nations committed to renewing its ageing fleet to ensure energy security and meet tough carbon reduction targets. It is seen as a proving ground, by many in the industry, of nuclear power’s ability to restore confidence.
However, the country’s agreement with EDF to build two units at Hinkley Point—which together will generate 3.2GW of electricity—has come under severe criticism over its cost. The government is looking at different funding models but said it still sees nuclear power as vital to the country’s future energy mix. Small reactors, it believes, have the potential to generate much-needed power from the 2030s.
A nuclear sector deal, unveiled last month, promised up to ￡56m in funding for research and development into AMRs and attracted interest of start-ups from around the world. The government hopes the funding will give the UK a lead in the global race to develop these technologies, helping to provide energy security while also creating a multibillion-dollar export market for British engineering companies.
1. Which of the following is true about the advanced modular reactors (AMRs)?| A．AMRs produce more power than traditional reactors |
| B．Small in scale, AMRs rose more safety risks |
| C．So far, most AMRs have not been put into use yet |
| D．Governments prefer energy of solar and wind to that of AMRs |
| A．prove that nuclear power has been threatened by safety concern. |
| B．show that the construction of nuclear power plants cost more that the budget available. |
| C．indicate the construction of nuclear plants are slow in speed. |
| D．point out that most power plants have adopted the latest nuclear technology. |
| A．Some people have lost confidence in the development of nuclear plants |
| B．The UK government seeks to reduce the negative impact of nuclear power on its economy. |
| C．The plan to build two power plants in Hinkley Point has been deserted |
| D．a kind costs for small modular reactors would be higher relative to large nuclear reactors. |
| A．Britain counts on nuclear energy to keep lights on |
| B．Traditional nuclear plants boom with mini reactors |
| C．Nuclear’s share of power generation remain stead |
| D．Nuclear power looks to shrink its way to success |
