1 . The opening of California’s commercial crab season, which normally starts in November, is delayed once again to protect whales searching for their prey (猎物) along the coast.
California has been affected by a marine heat wave since May. The Blob, as this mass of warm water has become known, is squeezing cooler water preferred by whales and their prey close to shore, where fishermen set their traps. This crowding can lead to tangle (缠结) between whales and fishing equipment, endangering the animals’ lives and requiring rescue missions.
In a new study, scientists say they can now use global temperature models, commonly used in climate science, to predict up to a year in advance when hot ocean temperatures raise the risk of tangles between whales and fishing equipment.The tool analyzed in the new study, called the Habitat Compression Index, works by feeding sea-surface temperature measurements into an equation (方程式) that estimates the likelihood of whale habitat shrinking closer to shore.Regulators and fishermen agree that the new forecasting research could help them walk the tightrope between protecting whales and protecting local livelihoods (生计).
Mr Ogg, a commercial fishing boat captain, describes himself as a conservationist who doesn’t want to see whales harmed.“Fishermen have a big motivation to protect the natural environment,” he said, “because that’s where they make their living.” Previously, the challenge was adapting to changing conditions and fishing regulations on short notice, especially for smaller business owners and their crews.“One of the biggest problems we had was the unpredictability,” Mr Ogg said, “We were living from week to week then.”
Though scientists have shown the Habitat Compression Index can now forecast months in advance, state officials would probably wait to see conditions in real time before making decisions about the crab fishery, said Ryan Bartling, an environmental scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
1. What do the whales come to shore for according to the first two paragraphs?A.Safety. | B.Shelter. | C.Leisure. | D.Food. |
A.To take a risk. | B.To join in an act. |
C.To strike a balance. | D.To walk on a rope. |
A.Supportive. | B.Indifferent. | C.Cautious. | D.Pessimistic. |
A.How climate data gives whales room to swim |
B.What causes the decrease in whale population |
C.Why global temperature models are in great need |
D.Whether to protect whales or the local livelihoods |
1. What is clever about the mall according to the talk?
A.Its location. | B.Its atmosphere. | C.Its shopkeepers. |
A.Greedy people. | B.Creative people. | C.Poor people. |
A.They want a bargain. |
B.They want something new. |
C.They want to help the planet. |
3 . Cell phones, tablets, laptops, smart-watches: the modern world is packed with a lot of devices that bring us connectivity, entertainment and information. Our hunger for the latest models leads to the “throwaway” culture, which means consumers often throw away old devices as soon as new ones come to the market, a habit that can have a significant effect on waste streams and the environment.
With concerns about e-waste growing, some companies are now turning to chemistry to develop solutions to recycle items like old cell phones, extracting value at the same time. One such example is the work being carried out by Mint Innovation, a clean tech firm based in Auckland, New Zealand. “We’ve developed a biological process for recovering valuable metals from electronic waste,” said Ollie Crush, the company’s chief scientific officer.
Crush explained that Mint Innovation’s system included grinding(磨碎)waste up into a powder. “The reason why we must do this is that we need to make sure that we’re exposing all the metal contained within to a chemical filtering(过滤)process,” he added.
When it comes to recovering a valuable material like gold, the technique used by Mint Innovation has a number of steps. According to a video, chemicals dissolve (溶解) the powdered waste into a solution, with any materials that haven’t dissolved filtered out. Microbes are then added to the mix. Gold atoms catch on to them in a process called “selective biosorption”. Next, the microbes coated gold are filtered, producing a paste which is then turned into a solid, “recycled” gold.
“Nearly 50% of the value of e-waste comes from the gold,” Cameron Weber, a senior lecturer at Chemical Sciences, said. “In fact, there’s actually more gold in e-waste as a concentration than there is in gold that’s been mined, which shows you the value of being able to take your e-waste and recycle and reuse some of the elements that are found in it,” he added.
Looking ahead, Crush, explained the process could potentially have a number of interesting applications. “The future for Mint Innovation is to prove that our technology works with a number of different materials,” he said. “So, we’ll just keep trying to see where our microbial process makes more sense.”
1. What is Mint Innovation trying to do?A.To develop eco-friendly products. | B.To change the “throwaway culture”. |
C.To collect harmful things in e-waste. | D.To get valuable things from e-waste. |
A.Mixing e-waste with gold. | B.Reusing elements of e-waste. |
C.Turning e-waste into tiny pieces. | D.Exposing e-waste to special chemicals. |
A.The ways of dealing with e-waste. | B.The necessity of reducing e-waste. |
C.The difficulty of recycling e-waste. | D.The meaning of recycling e-waste. |
A.Concerned. | B.Positive. | C.Doubtful. | D.Objective. |
4 . The Vjosa River, one of the last wild rivers in Europe, has been declared a national park by the Albanian government, making it the first wild river park on the continent.
Home to more than 1,000 animal and plant species, the river flows for 270 kilometers, from Greece, through Albania and into the Adriatic Sea. Giving the credit to no dams or other artificial barriers, it is rich in aquatic (水栖的) species and supports a large number of wildlife species, including some endangered ones.
The wild river national park will include almost 13,000 acres of land, crossing most of the body of the country, with thousands of people living in its surroundings. The decision to establish the park is more important than people may realize. For years, the Vjosa’s fragile ecosystem has been under threat: at one point as many as 45 hydropower plants (水电站) were planned to build across the region. But thanks to the campaigning by environmental NGOs, the tiny Balkan nation was placed at the forefront of river protection.
Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, described the creation of the national park as a “truly historic moment” for nature as well as social and economic development. “Today we protect the only wild river in Europe once and for all,” he said. “This is to change a mindset. Protecting an area does not mean that you make it in isolation from the economy.” He said national parks attract 20% more tourists compared with nonprotected areas.
The park will cover the 118 miles of the Vjosa in Albania, three main tributaries (支流), and some land, including areas at risk of flooding. Other tributaries will be added afterwards. Unlike the IUCN’s Wilderness Protected Areas, which limit the number of visitors, it will allow recreational tourism and some other activities such as local fishing, particularly for 60,000 residents in the catchment.
“We hope it will inspire others to come together to protect the wild places in a meaningful way,” said Ryan Gellert, Patagonia’s CEO, and added that the park was proof that the destruction of nature did not have to be the price of progress.
1. Which of the following contributes to the Vjosa River’s biodiversity?A.The existence of natural construction. | B.The emergence of artificial barriers. |
C.The absence of human disturbance. | D.The effect of governmental policies. |
A.To maintain Vjosa’s ecosystem. | B.To establish hydropower plants. |
C.To create jobs for local residents. | D.To protect the tiny Balkan nation. |
A.It covers more tributaries. | B.It attracts tourists to fishing. |
C.It limits the number of visitors. | D.It allows economic development. |
A.Social progress results in destruction of nature. |
B.Protection of nature conflicts with social progress. |
C.Social progress doesn’t necessarily mean destroying nature. |
D.Protection of nature doesn’t have to cost society much money. |
注意:1.词数80词左右。
2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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A.The price. | B.The food. | C.The environment. |
7 . There are several reasons to use canvas (帆布) grocery bags or reusable grocery bags made from other materials.
From an environmental perspective, canvas grocery bags are better choices than paper or plastic bags.
Plastic grocery bags have a number of environmental drawbacks. When plastic grocery bags end up in the natural environment, they can cause a wide range of problems. Animals may choke on or be trapped in such bags.
It may be upsetting to lose a batch of groceries due to a poorly-constructed grocery bag
A.Many grocery stores carry canvas grocery bags. |
B.You only have to buy a canvas grocery bag once. |
C.However, canvas grocery bags can hold more weight. |
D.Canvas grocery bags have uses beyond the grocery store. |
E.What’s worse, plastic can stay in the ocean for thousands of years. |
F.Canvas is more environmentally friendly to produce than paper or plastic. |
G.Some environmental organizations have been pushing for the use of such bags. |
8 . It might be strange to wear clothes made out of plastic bottles. But in fact some clothing companies are already making such clothes.
Fashion brand JUMA recently showed its newest collection at a workshop in Shanghai. Eighteen clothing items from the collection, including jump-suits, jackets, shirts and dresses, were made from recycled plastic bottles. “We realized that billions of water bottles were being thrown into landfills and oceans every year and that these bottles take hundreds of years to decompose (分解). We thought we should use them to create our clothes and help the environment,” said Alia Juma, the company’s design director.
Many other fashion companies are finding similar ways to save our planet these days. The process is rather simple. First, the plastic bottles are washed and cut into small pieces. Then they are melted and shaped into small balls. The balls are melted again to form thread. People can then use the thread to make different kinds of clothes.
According to Juma, it takes 67,000 bottles to create 1 ton of thread. This reduces carbon emissions by 4.2 tons and water use by 6.2 tons compared with the normal way of making thread. “4 bottles can make a pillowcase. 5 can make a shirt, 10 a dress and 20 a short coat,” Juma said.
Some people might have doubts about wearing something made out of plastic bottles. But according to Causeartist, a website that focuses on innovation, clothes made from plastic could be even better than nylon and polyester. Plastic thread can be made into different textures, such as cotton, silk or even wool. “The more we learn about recycled fabrics, the more we realize that they work just like other fabrics. You can get a heavier cotton feeling or a silky feeling by weaving the yarns into different textures and using different washing methods. There is actually a lot you can do with this fabric,” Juma said.
The price for the clothes in the new collection ranges from 500 to 3,000 yuan. However, Juma is optimistic that prices will fall when more companies follow the sustainability path taken by her business.
1. Why is fashion brand JUMA now making clothes from plastic bottles?A.Because too many bottles are being thrown away. |
B.Because the company has advanced technology. |
C.Because people are fond of wearing such clothes. |
D.Because recycling the bottles is good for the Earth. |
A.Creating 1 ton of thread in the normal way brings about 4.2 tons of carbon emissions. |
B.Making clothes from plastic bottles reduces carbon footprint and is worth the effort. |
C.A fashion company can make as many as 300 short coats using only 1 ton of thread. |
D.The new way of making thread from plastic bottles is not harmful to the environment. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Critical. | C.Supportive. | D.Disapproving. |
A.To advertise fashion brand JUMA. | B.To introduce a new type of clothes. |
C.To praise fashion companies’ creativity. | D.To express concern about the Earth. |
9 . Need to get rid of old clothes? You’re not alone: With fast fashion, it’s easier than ever to follow trends. But cheap clothes aren’t made to last, most of which often end up in a landfill (垃圾填埋场). Take US as an example: per person generates an average of 82 pounds of such waste every year, with 85 per cent of it going to landfills even though 95 per cent can be reused.
Donating is a popular alternative — but know that only about 10 to 20 per cent of donated clothing gets sold at thrift shops (廉价旧货店). While all but five per cent of donated clothes are resold for reuse or recycling, it’s impossible to know exactly how much ultimately becomes trash.
The best way to ensure good, usable clothing doesn’t become waste is to increase the chances it ends up with someone who wants it. First, don’t wait too long if you choose to donate clothing to an organization, big or small. The sooner you donate your unwanted items, the more demand there is for them. Wherever you donate, ensure clothes are clean and dry. If it’s damaged or stained, don’t send it to thrift shops. They don’t have the capacity to do repairs and it just creates a financial burden in addition to the eco-burden, and defeats the purpose of the charitable action.
Clothes that are stained or damaged beyond repair will likely never be re-worn but can still be diverted (使转向) from landfills. You can send your clothes directly to recycling companies, like through Retold Recycling or municipal programmes. Old clothes can be downcycled into other items like wipers for car washes, and even generated into new textiles (织品).
Recycling is better than landfilling. It might take time to do a little research to find the right organization that can actually use the items you’re looking to give away. But it’s more rewarding than throwing everything in a big garbage bag, dumping it into a bin, and hoping for the best.
1. What can be learnt about fast fashion?A.It has reduced the eco-burden. |
B.It has caused clothing waste. |
C.It has lost its appeal in the US. |
D.It has led to a rise in landfills. |
A.To show the seriousness of the clothing waste. |
B.To criticize the spending habits of Americans. |
C.To push for tougher laws against fast fashion. |
D.To offer practical advice on managing landfills. |
A.Make them into new textiles. |
B.Put as many into landfills as possible. |
C.Downcycle them into wipers. |
D.Donate them to where they are needed. |
A.Critical. | B.Indifferent. | C.Supportive. | D.Unclear. |
10 . The natural world provides humans with essential services. For instance, forests channel water into rivers that irrigate crops while their roots prevent landslides. Over decades, therefore, governments have made promises about preserving the world’s biodiversity.
However, those promises have been broken many times, which has caused the depressing destruction of natural environments. One step towards avoiding yet more disappointment is to emphasize the close link between preserving biodiversity and the widely held goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions. Unfortunately, less known is the link between them.
Given that biodiversity has an important role in meeting these carbon-reduction goals, you might think it would feature highly in the net- emissions plans. Not so. For example, faced with tighter regulation of emissions, many companies are now channeling more time and cash to their firms’ carbon footprints reduction and energy transition, yet the plans have too little to say about biodiversity.
That needs to change. Sale guarding biodiversity is an efficient way to control carbon emissions. Companies and investment firms should pay more attention to the opportunities from preserving ecosystems. By investing in biodiversity—directing capital to projects that repair an ecosystem—companies can offset (抵消) their emissions. By some estimates, projects to manage carbon-rich wetlands and to reforest cleared and could provide more than one-third of the emissions reductions that are needed to prevent more than 2°C of global warming.
Key to managing more capital is better measurement so that the link between investment in natural projects, biodiversity and carbon is made clear. Today some so-called carbon-offset projects that involve firms paying money to are questionable and not supported by evidence. Better guidelines and practice can help and so can new technology. Drones and satellites can improve the measurement of biodiversity and accounting systems can measure how spending on biodiversity compares with pouring cash into other kinds of carbon management.
1. What do we know about biodiversity?A.Its importance is undervalued. | B.Its link with carbon emissions is clear. |
C.It is the source of carbon dioxide. | D.I gets promised benefits from governments. |
A.To clarify a rule. | B.To make a conclusion. |
C.To explain a plan. | D.To support an opinion. |
A.Rebuilding wetlands. | B.Redirecting capital. |
C.Cutting carbon emissions. | D.Transforming energy. |
A.The natural world deserves more investment. |
B.The key to managing capital is new regulations. |
C.It is hard to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. |
D.It is worthwhile spending money on clean energy. |