1 . Climate experts have warned about the many ways a warming planet can negatively affect human health.
One long-held prediction that appears to be coming true — according to the results of a study recently published in Nature Scientific Reports — is how climate change might enhance
Vibrio vulnificus (创伤弧菌) flourishes in salty or brackish waters above 68℉. Infections are currently rare in the U.S., but that’s likely to change. Using 30 years of data on infections, scientists at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. found that Vibrio vulnificusis
“We’re seeing the core
Based on the latest data on how much the world’s water and air temperatures will rise, the scientists predict that by 2081, Vibrio vulnificus infections could reach every state along the U.S. East Coast. Currently, only about 80 cases are reported in the U.S. each year; by 2081, that could go up to over three-fold, the authors say.
Such a proliferation could have serious health consequences. Vibrio vulnificus kills approximately 20% of the healthy people it infects, and 50% of those with weakened immune systems. There is little evidence that antibiotics can
Warming sea temperatures aren’t the only reasons behind the rise of Vibrio vulnificus. Hotter air also draws more people to the coasts and bays, bringing them into closer contact with the bacteria.
“The bacteria are part of the natural marine environment, so I don’t think we can
To alert people to the growing threat,
Vbrio vulnificus is so
Lake says the expansion of Vibrio vulnificus is concerning for public health since the bacteria are now invading waters closer to heavily
| A．Even if | B．Except when | C．The instant | D．In case |
| A．numbers | B．ranges | C．coverages | D．concentrations |
| A．failure | B．fatality | C．survival | D．acid |
| A．ranging | B．varying | C．expanding | D．shifting |
| A．distribution | B．launch | C．community | D．sample |
| A．principle | B．lead | C．principal | D．hit |
| A．boost | B．accelerate | C．contain | D．remove |
| A．harms | B．damages | C．injuries | D．wounds |
| A．relieve | B．dissolve | C．resolve | D．erase |
| A．conscience | B．awareness | C．panic | D．alert |
| A．monitoring | B．processing | C．managing | D．delivering |
| A．sensible | B．vital | C．vulnerable | D．sensitive |
| A．populated | B．dense | C．paralleled | D．bordered |
| A．reaction | B．interaction | C．intervention | D．relativity |
| A．rather than | B．except for | C．such as | D．other than |
2 . When she first started learning about the climate change from one of her elders,Fawn Sharp was invited on a helicopter flight over the Olympic Mountains to survey the Mount Anderson glacier.But the glacier was gone,melted by the warming climate.Sharp had a deep sense of loss when she discovered the glacier wasn’t there anymore.
Loss is a growing issue for people working and living on the front lines of climate change.And that gave Jennifer Wren Atkinson,a full-time lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell,US,an idea for a class.
This term,she taught students on the Bothell campus about the emotional burdens of environmental studies.She used the experiences of Native American tribes(部落),scientists and activists,and asked her 24 students to face the reality that there is no easy fix—that “this is such an intractable problem that they’re going to be dealing with it for the rest of their lives”.
Student Cody Dillon used to be a climate science skeptic(怀疑论者).Then he did his own reading and research,and changed his mind.
Dillon wasn’t going into environmental work—he was a computer-science major.Yet,the potential for a worldwide environmental catastrophe seemed so real to him five years ago that he quit his job and became a full-time volunteer for an environmental group that worked on restoration(恢复) projects.
Six months into the work,he decided that Atkinson’s class was just what he was looking for—a place where he could discuss his concerns about a changing climate.
Atkinson said she hoped the class helped her students prepare themselves for the amount of environmental loss that will happen over their lifetimes.
“We are already changing the planet—so many species are going to be lost,displaced or massively impacted,” she said.“The future isn’t going to be what they imagined.”
1. Why did the author mention the case of Fawn Sharp?| A．To lay a basis for Fawn Sharp’s further research. |
| B．To prove Fawn Sharp’s work is similar to Atkinson’s. |
| C．To lead into the issue of loss caused by climate change. |
| D．To show scientists’ concern about the Mount Anderson glacier. |
| A．Simple. | B．Difficult. |
| C．Common. | D．Interesting. |
| A．To explore how different people deal with climate change. |
| B．To get students more concerned about the environmental issue. |
| C．To find solutions to the environmental issue of Olympic Mountains. |
| D．To teach students how to conduct research about environment. |
| A．It made him work as a part-time volunteer for restoration projects. |
| B．It made him realize a planet-wide climate disaster would happen. |
| C．It encouraged him to be more involved in environmental protection. |
| D．It discouraged him to work on restoration projects for the environment. |
3 . Naturalist Enzo Suma, who is now 40, lives in Puglia, a region in southern Italy whose long coastline faces the Adriatic Sea. Floating waste accumulates in this relatively enclosed part of the Mediterranean, unlike the open ocean, where the waste tends to be spread over a vast area. Feeling concerned about that, Suma makes it a habit to pick up the washed-up waste along the shore, especially after big winter storms.
One day, Suma was walking along the beach near his home when he discovered a bottle of Coke. Suma noticed on the bottle that the price, clearly printed on the bottom, was in lire, a currency (货币) that hadn’t been used in Italy since it was replaced by the euro in 2002. Could a plastic container have well survived in the Mediterranean, he wondered, for about two decades?
That led him to founding the Archeoplastica museum. It has a collection of about 500 unique pieces recovered from Italian shores and the Coke bottle is the first one of them. All collection demonstrates the unsettling life force of plastic waste in the environment. “Seeing that a product people may have used 30, 40, or 50 years ago remains still unchanged, you’ll feel different. It’s a great shock,” Suma said to a reporter. So Suma often exhibits selected pieces from the Archeoplastica collection at local schools around his hometown of Ostuni.
“The playful side of the work allows you to arrive at the less beautiful side of things,” Suma acknowledged. “Plastic is a kind of useful substance. But it’s unthinkable that a water bottle, made from a material designed to last so long, can be used for just a few days—or even minutes—before becoming garbage. Clean the beaches. Clean the oceans. Recycle. But if we are still throwing out plastics, none of those are going to be long-term solutions.”
1. What’s Suma’s concern about his living place?| A．Its long coastline is disappearing. | B．Big storms frequently hit the area. |
| C．Floating waste spreads over a vast area. | D．The waste pollution on shore is worsening. |
| A．They have a history of more than half a century. |
| B．They were quite valuable before turning into waste. |
| C．They’re more like educational exhibits than garbage. |
| D．They have stronger life force than ordinary plastic products. |
| A．Creative, devoted and socially responsible. | B．Enthusiastic, ambitious and adventurous. |
| C．Generous, cautious and humorous. | D．Curious, efficient and playful. |
| A．The birth of plastics has greatly served humans. |
| B．The key to tackling the plastic pollution is to stop littering. |
| C．The plastic problem can be solved by cleaning and recycling. |
| D．People should be more aware of the powerful functions of plastics. |
4 . This year, why not think of Earth Day as being like New Year’s Day?
Send your kids out to play. Sign up for the 1,000 hours challenge, where families accumulate (积累) 1,000 hours of outdoor play in a year.
Learn how to cook five easy main dishes well. By promoting your kitchen skills and developing some of your own recipes, you won’t be so much interested in take outs and all the related packaging waste.
Walk or bike, don’t drive.
| A．Shop second-hand. |
| B．Try some zero waste beauty products. |
| C．It’s a chance to make a lifestyle change. |
| D．If that’s too much, aim for two hours of daily outdoor play. |
| E．Discover the satisfaction that comes with using what you have. |
| F．See if you can use your own leg power for all trips under three miles. |
| G．And you will be more likely to use up food in your fridge before it goes bad. |
5 . The whole idea behind the US National Parks system was to preserve natural and historic locations, and the wildlife that lives there. The goal allows for inclusion of any place that features natural beauty, unique geological features, or an interesting ecosystem, plus the sites of national monuments and other places of historical or archaeological significance.
We’ve selected three US National Parks that are as different from each other as possible. Let’s start in the northeastern corner of the US, with a beautiful park called Acadia National Park.
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is in Eastern Maine, near the town of Bar Harbour. The park is unique, in that it features a wide variety of landscapes, including mountains, ocean coastlines, woodlands, lakes, and wetlands. It covers a total of about 49,000 acres.
The park is home to 37 species of mammals, including black bears, moose, and deer. There are 33 fish species and 331 bird varieties.
Everglades National Park
Unlike many national parks, Everglades National Park was initially created to protect a fragile and disappearing ecosystem. The Everglades consist of a network of wetlands and forests that are fed by a river flowing slowly out of Lake Okeechobee.
The Everglades cover a massive area, and Everglades National Park protects only the southern twenty percent. It’s the United States’ largest tropical(热带的)wilderness; in fact, it’s the largest wilderness of the east of the Mississippi River.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is located on “the big island”, Hawaii. It was created in 1916. The park features two active volcanoes, one of which, Mauna Loa, is the world’s largest shield volcano. The other, Kilauea, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park lets visitors get up close and personal with the two volcanoes. Odd-looking lava(岩浆)fields and dramatic landscapes captivate the eye, and you can learn about the rare plants and animals that thrive in the tough environment.
1. What is the US National Parks system aimed to do?| A．To protect natural and historic resources. | B．To rebuild old and important constructions. |
| C．To appreciate natural and geological beauty. | D．To make ecosystems entertaining for people. |
| A．None of them. | B．Acadia National Park. |
| C．Everglades National Park. | D．Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. |
| A．Learn about ecosystem protection. | B．Enjoy tropical wilderness landscapes. |
| C．Get up close to two volcanoes. | D．Study lava samples in a tough environment. |
6 . My 5-year-old daughter Kai walked around a bus stop, picking up candy wrappers and plastic bottles and throwing them in the waste bin. We were a visiting family here, but she was cleaning the sidewalk, which didn’t shock me, nor was I
Our cleanup project began when we drove past an empty field one day and Kai
However, it seems we can never
Now Kai hopes to become a marine biologist to protect sharks one day. She still has many years to
The last time our family was at the beach, we still picked up plastic bottles. Most
| A．embarrassed | B．discouraged | C．concerned | D．frightened |
| A．apologized | B．confirmed | C．spotted | D．explained |
| A．loose | B．magic | C．processed | D．abandoned |
| A．trade | B．mistake | C．replace | D．change |
| A．pulled over | B．blew up | C．turned down | D．gave in |
| A．due to | B．ahead of | C．other than | D．instead of |
| A．official | B．serious | C．optional | D．regular |
| A．deliver | B．remove | C．track | D．produce |
| A．stress | B．comfort | C．anger | D．pride |
| A．mess | B．platform | C．court | D．house |
| A．scary | B．pleasant | C．historic | D．real |
| A．decide | B．struggle | C．survive | D．contribute |
| A．safe | B．giant | C．distant | D．sick |
| A．personally | B．memorably | C．technically | D．universally |
| A．promise | B．threat | C．reminder | D．favor |
7 . Flying someone one-way from London to New York City produces a lot of climate-warming greenhouse gas. But there is a new way to cut the climate influence of flying. Most planes crossing the Atlantic Ocean follow one of several fixed paths that are widely spaced. “Instead of having these fixed tracks which keep the planes apart, airlines can fly much more flexible routes (灵活的路线),” says Cathie Wells. She is a PhD student in mathematics.
The aviation industry knows it has a high carbon footprint (碳排放量). To reduce that footprint, some people share their ideas. For instance, experts could redesign planes. Or airlines could choose fuels (燃料)from renewable sources, such as plants. But it takes decades and many billions of dollars to design, test and fly new planes and try new fuels.
Taking more flexible routes, in contrast, can cut costs and energy right away. “Reducing fuel use is a win-win solution,” says Irene Dedoussi, who works at Delft University of Technology. It allows the aviation industry to save money on fuels while reducing carbon footprints. “Even savings of just one or two percent are generally considered important. Using something so simple to cut fuel use by one sixth is huge,” she said. Before that can happen, however, Wells needs to make a few changes. The researchers of her team will have to work out the best flight paths that consider scheduling issues.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) provides air-traffic control for the United Kingdom. It invited Wells to describe her new findings. Just one week after her team’s new study was published, NATS said it would change its flight-paths system. For now, NATS will be working with airlines to allow them to choose routes that would best limit their fuel use.
1. What is Cathie Wells’ way to cut the climate influence of flying?| A．Making changes to flight paths. |
| B．Changing the design of planes. |
| C．Using environment-friendly fuels. |
| D．Improving the pilots’ driving skills. |
| A．They require dangerous experiments. |
| B．They are not supported by the public. |
| C．They take a lot of time and can be costly. |
| D．They are unable to reduce carbon footprints to the lowest. |
| A．It brings better service to passengers. |
| B．It is helpful in reducing traffic jams. |
| C．It has little influence on the aviation industry. |
| D．It has big advantages but needs careful consideration. |
| A．A solution to traffic problems. |
| B．The growing interest in the study of planes. |
| C．The influence of air travel on the environment. |
| D．A new way to make future air travel greener. |
8 . The old man Antonio Vicente has spent over four decades of his life fighting against the trend. As Brazilian landowners cut down rainforest to make room for profitable plantations (种植园) and grasslands, he struggled to bring the jungles of his childhood back to life.
“When I was a child, the farmers cut down the trees to make grasslands, and the water dried up and did not come back,” he says, “I thought: Water is valuable; no one makes water and the population will not stop growing. What is going to happen? We are going to run out of water.”
With only some donkeys and a small team of hired workers, Antonio Vicente set about bringing back the forest. What started out as a weekend hobby soon became a permanent way of life, and Antonio recalls often spending whole days and nights in his young jungle, surrounded by rats and foxes, and eating banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the last 40 years, he has planted an estimated 50,000 trees on his 31 hectare land, which now make up a small but unique area of rainforest, and a haven for wildlife.
As the forest grew, the water returned, and Antonio says that there are now over 20 water sources on his land that were no longer there when he bought it. Then the animals started making a home there. Today, the forest is alive with the sounds of birds and insects living there, and more species settle in every year. “There are all kinds of birds, squirrels, lizards, and even the boars are returning,” Antonio says. “If you ask me who my family are, I would say all this right here, each one of these that I planted from a seed.”
1. What do we learn about the Brazilian farmers?| A．They focused on short-term profit. |
| B．They wasted much water on farming. |
| C．They cared much about the environment. |
| D．They relied heavily on rainforest for a living. |
| A．Overpopulation. | B．Polluted water. |
| C．Loss of grasslands. | D．Water shortage. |
| A．Trap. | B．Disaster. |
| C．Shelter. | D．Balance. |
| A．His thanks for his family. |
| B．His affection for his forest. |
| C．His deep love for animals. |
| D．His pride as a successful peasant. |
With the song “Sky Railway”
Thanks to our efforts, all the wild animals and the whole natural ecosystem are well protected along the “Sky Railway”. I am filled with
10 . In October 2015, Shah began picking up rubbish from the beach every Sunday morning. At first, it was just him and a neighbor, and then he began
Shah hasn't stopped since. He's now spent 209 weekends
For Shah, the work has always been a personal journey, but it has earned
Today, Shah is also working with coastal communities to
“This world
| A．asking | B．ordering | C．warning | D．forcing |
| A．compared | B．adapted | C．related | D．devoted |
| A．workers | B．volunteers | C．journalists | D．clerks |
| A．originally | B．finally | C．suddenly | D．theoretically |
| A．park | B．bank | C．beach | D．market |
| A．global | B．local | C．national | D．coastal |
| A．described | B．honored | C．opposed | D．elected |
| A．make | B．discuss | C．throw | D．handle |
| A．ocean | B．factory | C．mountain | D．forest |
| A．protect | B．control | C．scold | D．educate |
| A．talks | B．complains | C．thinks | D．argues |
| A．earlier | B．faster | C．more | D．better |
| A．pity | B．need | C．pain | D．effect |
| A．come on | B．get on | C．look on | D．go on |
| A．great | B．complex | C．complete | D．difficult |
