3 . Rachel Carson’s classic best seller about ecological threats, Silent Spring, started a wave of American environmentalism. It played a direct role in the 1972 decision to ban the use of the pesticide(杀虫剂)DDT. Sixty years ago, the public was introduced to Carson’s arguments. The coming anniversary makes this a good time to consider whether the book achieved one of her major goals: protecting wildlife and, in particular, birds.

Carsen took a complex technical subject — the damaging effects of persistent pesticide and expressed it in one simple, poetic image: a spring in which no birds sang. She asked us to imagine what it would be like to awaken in the morning in a world without these songs. She wrote with grace, and she made us feel the loss. But how well have we acted on Carson’s warnings?

With some exceptions, we haven’t been very successful, and neither have birds. Twenty-nine percent of North American birds have died out since 1970, Grass lands were the hardest hit, with a documented loss of more than 700 million breeding individuals. The number of dead birds totaled nearly three billion, a figure that sparked(引起) a campaign with tips on what people can do to save them. Given these data, it is easy to conclude that despite the brilliance of her writing, Carson did not succeed in protecting birds.

Still, the 2019 bird study, despite its worrying results, also suggests that protecting biodiversity is not lost cause. One important exception is wet lands, where bird abundance increased by 13 percent. The other animative exception is bald eagles, which acre on the edge of extinction at the time Carson wrote, but they recovered in large part as a result of the ban on DDT. A news story published by the Au dub on Society notes that “the numbers show that taking steps like wildlife management, habitat restoration and political action can be effective to save species.”

1. How did Rachel Carson fulfill her writing purpose in her book?

A．By warning gracefully.	B．By arguing simply.
C．By thinking critically.	D．By drawing vividly,

2. What does the underlined word “animative” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Alarming.	B．Encouraging
C．Reliable	D．Imaginable.

3. What is the writer’s attitude toward the effect of Rachel’s book?

A．Negative.	B．Objective.
C．Positive.	D．Unconcerned.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．An American writer didn’t fulfill her promise.

B．Our efforts to protect the environment were in vain.

C．Books have limitations in raising environmental awareness.

D．Birds are still in trouble 60 years after Silent Spring warned us.

4 . Babusha, or “eight-step sands”, got its name because the desert was always just eight steps away from the farmers’ doors. Today, the desert’s southward movement has been stopped thanks to a green belt planted in the last 40 years by Guo Wangang and his colleagues. As a result, Guo was named a National Moral Model in 2020.

Guo is only part of the second generation of “soldiers” to fight against the desert. His father was one of the six men who first began planting trees in Babusha. When Guo’s father fell ill in 1983, he hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps.

Guo remembers being reluctant to give up his stable government job. “My father repeatedly stressed that we had to make sure our farms weren’t eaten by the desert,” Guo said, adding that he eventually agreed to work at the farm because he didn’t want to see the trees die.

However, it was the deadly sandstorm in 1993 that turned Guo into a determined “soldier”. The fast moving brown wall of dust reached high into the sky and turned day into night. Guo was working in the desert with his colleagues when it hit. They only managed to get home after trekking for six hours in darkness. Later, he learned that 23 students were found dead in a river as they tried to get home from school during the sandstorm.

Since then, Guo and his colleagues have continued planting trees every spring and fall, pruning (修剪) them in winter and watching out for fire. Their struggle continues. Today more and more young people have joined with scientific and innovative methods. For example, the farm now is subsidized (资助) by Ant Forest, a public welfare project launched by the e-commerce giant, Alibaba. It rewards users with virtual energy in exchange for low-carbon activities, which can then be used to do things, like having trees planted.

“We need more such young people to help us find other advanced and engineering methods for desertification control,” said Guo Wangang.

1. What was Guo Wangang’s first reaction to his father’s request?

A．He advised his father to stop planting trees.

B．He was unwilling to give up his stable job.

C．He immediately agreed to work at the farm.

D．He was determined to fight against the desert.

2. Which marks the turning point in Guo Wangang’s desert-fighting career?

A．Finishing the green belt.

B．Winning National Moral Model title.

C．Seeing his father’s falling ill.

D．Experiencing a deadly sandstorm.

3. Why does the author mention Ant Forest?

A．To show young people’s creative methods.

B．To advocate the low-carbon way of living.

C．To praise Ant Forest’s unique contribution.

D．To indicate Guo and his team’s difficulties.

4. What does the author try to express with Guo’s story?

A．Well begun is half done.

B．One tree doesn’t make a forest.

C．Opportunity favours only the prepared mind.

D．Nothing is too difficult if you put your heart into it.

6 . Enthusiastic travelers may have already heard of “regenerative tourism” along with the idea of sustainability(持续性). Whenever we travel—no matter where or how—we are leaving an impact on the environment and the world surrounding us. While sustainable tourism takes positive steps toward limiting that footprint in order for us to protect environments for future generations, regenerative tourism takes this idea one step further.

Regenerative tourism means “the idea that tourists should leave a place in better condition than it was before”. For example, when visiting a garden, each person plants a tree to further build the environment instead of leaving no trace(痕迹).

In a way, regenerative tourism involves travelers to be active in their acts of sustainability. Another great example of this is any act of clean-up. This is especially popular on major beaches and in parks where there’s always rubbish to pick up and waste to remove. While travelers certainly don’t need to join in a community clean-up while on vacation (unless they want to), the idea of being involved is very much the same.

Joining in regenerative tourism has personal and environmental benefits. Jeffrey Skibins, an associate professor in entertainment and park management, says, “Many tourists report feelings of deep personal satisfaction and a stronger connection to nature. Additionally, conservation (保护) behaviors enable tourists to develop life-long learning around these issues and continue these behaviors at home.”

Regenerative means “to renew and revive”, which is exactly what many travelers are doing to help environments recover. Depending on where one plans to travel, there might be more ways to help than originally realized. By further encouraging damaged environments to be renewed through travel rather than being negatively impacted, we can slowly help to rebuild the world’s most beautiful landscapes.

1. What is the aim of regenerative tourism?

A．To further improve the environment.	B．To limit the footprint of human beings.
C．To keep a place in its original condition.	D．To dramatically promote global economy.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．Designing a bright future for our life.	B．Taking part in a community clean-up.
C．Renewing our ideas about environments.	D．Getting active in the acts of sustainability.

3. What does Jeffrey Skibins think of regenerative tourism?

A．It makes travelers closely connected.	B．It gives personal satisfaction to travelers.
C．It leaves a short-term effect on tourists.	D．It helps tourists improve their learning ability.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Regenerative tourism invites travelers to do their part

B．Travelling patterns make a difference to the environment

C．Conservation behavior enjoys its popularity among households

D．The idea of sustainability takes root in all enthusiastic travelers

7 . Look out the window or walk over to a patch of soil near your home. It could be reddish brown, black, dark gray or even the colour of rich, dark chocolate. If it’s moist enough, run your hands through it. It may separate into thick clumps that can hold water and later release it. With a few exceptions—such as desert sites—this is how good soil behaves.

In fact, the number of microscopic organisms that live in a shovelful of rich garden soil exceeds the number of plants and animals inhabiting the entire aboveground Amazon rainforest. And the Amazon is known for having more plants and animals than any other land-based habitat.

Soil is what supports life on Earth. Most people give it little thought, but it feeds us and the ecosystems around us. It is where countless species make their homes. It collects water, pulls pollutants from the air and helps support the planet’s atmosphere. Soil is one of Mother Nature’s unsung heroes.

And while most soil looks like it’s static, just sitting there unmoving, it actually hosts plenty of activities. Its earthworms may be digging tunnels. Worms are weightlifters. But they aren’t the only ones making changes. Other creatures below ground are too tiny to see with the unaided eye. These include one celled creatures called protozoa (单细胞生物). They improve soil by eating bacteria and releasing nitrogen, which helps plants grow.

And then there are all those bacteria. Most people think of them as dangerous. In soils, they not only serve as prey to beneficial protozoa, but also perform an environmental service. They help recycle dead plant parts and animal tissues into nutrients. They even turn some pollutants in soil and water into more of the nutrients that can sustain the diverse species that make up lively ecosystems beneath our feet.

1. What’s the purpose of mentioning the Amazon rainforest in the second paragraph?

A．To indicate the rich species in the Amazon rainforest.

B．To introduce the rich soil in the Amazon rainforest.

C．To stress the variety of microscopic organisms in the rich soil.

D．To illustrate biodiversity aboveground the Amazon rainforest.

2. What can we infer from the third paragraph?

A．Soil is something that supports life on Earth.

B．Soil provides a variety of benefits to our planet.

C．Soil determines the quality of our ecosystems.

D．Soil is the Mother Nature’s unsung hero.

3. Which of the following sentences is TRUE according to the text?

A．The soil in the desert behaves as well as good soil does.

B．Most people give thought to soil for it supports life on Earth.

C．Most soil indeed hosts plenty of activities though it looks quiet.

D．The bacteria in soils almost do no good to the environment.

4. Which of the following is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Categories of the Soil on Earth	B．The Disappearance of the Rich Soil
C．Biodiversity in the Amazon Rainforest	D．Healthy Soil Supports Life on Our Planet

8 . In 1957, English scientist James Lovelock invented the Electron Capture Detector, an inexpensive, sensitive device used to help measure the spread of poisonous man-made compounds (化合物) in the environment. The device provided the scientific foundations of Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, a push for the environmental movement. It also helped provide the basis for regulations in the United States and in other nations that banned harmful chemicals like DDT and PCBs.

Later, his discovery that chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs)—compounds that are used in refrigerators and air conditioners—were present in measurable concentrations in the atmosphere led to the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer (臭氧层). He also explained that they posed no possible danger to the planet. A year after his paper in Nature, Mario Molina of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and F. Sherwood Rowland of the University of California at Irvine published a paper in the same journal detailing how sensitive the Earth’s ozone layer is to CFCs. In 1995 they were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work in reminding the world of the thinning of the ozone layer. Lovelock later called his conclusion a mistake.

But Dr Lovelock may be most widely known for his Gaia theory that the Earth acts as a “living organism” that can “control its temperature and chemistry in a state of comfortable stability (稳定性).” As an expert on the chemical composition of the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, Dr Lovelock wondered why Earth’s atmosphere was so stable. He hypothesized (假定)that something must control heat, oxygen, nitrogen, and other ingredients. He presented his theory in 1967. That summer, the novelist William Golding, his friend, suggested the name Gaia, after the Greek goddess of the Earth.

The hypothesis may never have moved into the scientific mainstream without the contribution of Lynn Margulis, an American microbiologist. In the early 1970s and in the decades that followed, she worked with Dr Lovelock on specific studies to support this concept. Since then. Dr Lovelock’s theory of a self-controlling Earth has been considered important to understanding the causes and consequences of global warming.

1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?

A．The functions of man-made compounds.

B．The importance of banning harmful chemicals.

C．The influence of the Electron Capture Detector.

D．The working principles of the Electron Capture Detector.

2. What did James Lovelock once believe to be true?

A．It was impossible to find CFCs in thin air.

B．CFCs did little harm to the Earth.

C．It was impossible to measure CFCs in the air.

D．CFCs had little effect on cooling refrigerators.

3. What inspired James Lovelock to produce his Gaia theory?

A．Earth’s atmosphere remains stable.

B．Golding mentioned a Greek goddess.

C．Both Earth and Mars have atmospheres.

D．Living things can exist in the atmosphere.

4. What do we know about Lynn Margulis?

A．She became well-known because of Lovelock.

B．She first discovered the causes of global warming.

C．She helped Lovelock make his theory widely accepted.

D．She proposed a new idea based on Lovelock’s Gaia theory.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How old is Jays a now?

A．8.

B．12.

C．14.

2. Why did Jays a give the speech?

A．To encourage people to do research.

B．To urge the coal plant to shut down.

C．To raise money for her health problems.

10 . Every winter, Siberian cranes (白鹤) migrate from northeast Siberia in Russia to Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province, China. About 95 percent of the birds spend the season there. However, climate change has endangered the birds’ habitats.

“In some years, the Poyang Lake experiences floods, while in others, it experiences droughts. Both of these create food shortages in the cranes’ habitat,” Qian Fawen, a researcher from the National Bird Banding Center of China, told China Daily.

To help deal with the problem, the local government has built 70 hectares of lotus roots (莲藕) in Nanchang to provide food during the winter for the cranes. The birds’ population has risen from about 3,000 to more than 5,000 over the past 20 years, according to Qian.

Over the years, China has worked hard to protect migratory birds and wetlands. Known as the “Earth’s kidneys (肾脏)”, wetlands play a key role in cleaning water, preventing floods, and helping with biodiversity. The Wetlands Protection Law was introduced on June 1, 2022. It stops building work on important national wetlands and bans activities such as overgrazing (过度放牧) and giving out wastewater.

Thanks to these efforts, China has reported more birds wintering in the nation’s wetlands. In February, black-faced spoonbills (黑脸琵鹭), an endangered species, were seen wintering at Dongting Lake after disappearing for five years. Last December, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve recorded more than 2,900 tundra swans up from some 1,000 seen during the winter of 2021.

1. The bird population is rising in Nanchang because ________.

A．the city offers more food for birds	B．extreme weather hasn’t hit the city
C．the city becomes increasingly warm	D．climate change doesn’t affect the place

2. What is the main role wetlands play?

A．Saving endangered animal species.	B．Looking after water and biodiversity.
C．Providing shade for migratory birds.	D．Avoiding overgrazing and water pollution.

3. Paragraph 4 is mainly written to show ________.

A．when the Wetlands Protection Law was introduced

B．why the bird population in Nanchang rises quickly

C．how China deals with water pollution and overpopulation

D．what China has done to protect migratory birds and wetlands

4. What do the examples in paragraph 5 show?

A．Migratory birds add biodiversity to China.

B．New bird species leave China for winter.

C．China has completed its wetlands protection.

D．China’s environmental protection is successful.