2 . My husband and I always wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it. By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise, landed a three-month job in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The British Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches. However, for every photo album of a beautiful beach, there were 10 photos of trash (垃圾). It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such primitive and remote beaches. So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick upon our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pollution. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free. We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going. We love connecting with like-minded people. It’s been amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

1. Why did the author do pet sitting?

A．To cover travel expenses.	B．To raise fund.
C．To conserve the environment.	D．To shoot beautiful beaches.

2. What does the author intend to convey through her story?

A．Pet sitting is a new sort of occupation.

B．The Caribbean is a perfect travel destination.

C．Travel blog is a superb way to gain popularity.

D．Actions should be taken to fight plastic pollution.

3. What did the author think of her experience in the Caribbean?

A．Challenging.

B．Significant.

C．Adventurous.

D．Unbearable.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Shifting Lifestyles by Pet Sitting	B．Address Global Environment Pollution
C．Unexpected Gains from Pet Sitting Travel	D．The availability of Pet Sitting in the Caribbean

3 . Microplastic pollution is increasing dramatically around the globe, according to a study of airborne (空气传播的) plastic particles(粒子).

People are already known to breathe, drink and eat microplastics, and research suggests that pollution levels will continue to rise rapidly. The researchers said that inhaling (吸入) these particles can irritate (刺激) lung tissue and lead to serious diseases.

Professor Natalie Mahowald, at Cornell University in the US and part of the research team, said: “But maybe we could solve this before it becomes a huge problem, if we manage our plastics better, before they accumulate (积聚) in the environment and swirl (打旋) around everywhere.”

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined airborne microplastics, which have been far less studied than plastic in oceans and rivers.

The team gathered more than 300 samples of airborne microplastics from 11 sites across the western US. These were the basis for atmospheric modeling that estimated the contribution from different sources, and was the first such study to do so.

They found that roads were the dominant factor in the western US, linked to about 85 percent of the microplastics in the air. These are likely to include particles from tires and brake pads on vehicles, and plastics from litter that had been broken down.

The researchers extended their modeling work to a global level and this suggested that while roads are also likely to be the dominant driver of airborne plastics in Europe, South America and Australia, plastic particles blown up from fields may be a much bigger factor in Africa and Asia.

Professor Andreas Stohl of the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Earth Sciences, and not part of the study team, said: “The study confirms the global-scale nature of microplastic transport in the atmosphere and does a good job in highlighting highly relevant and concerning possibilities, but more measurement data is needed to get a better idea of the sources.”

1. What do we know about microplastic pollution from the text?

A．It has become the most pressing environmental problem.

B．The particles can do great harm to our lungs.

C．Airborne microplastics have been widely studied.

D．There is more plastic in the air than in oceans.

2. What did the researchers find out about airborne plastic pollution?

A．Its impact varies on different continents.

B．Public transportation is largely to blame for it.

C．Its dominant driver differs across continents.

D．Africa is suffering the most from the pollution.

3. According to Professor Andreas Stohl, the next step of the study is to________

A．predict the potential damages of microplastics.

B．understand the nature of airborne plastic pollution globally.

C．get more data to understand the sources of microplastics.

D．improve the method of collecting samples of microplastics.

4. What could be the best title for the text?

A．Effects of microplastics on human health	B．Plastic pollution rising rapidly in the air
C．Possible solutions to plastic pollution	D．Plastic pollution on the global scale

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is getting less and less these days according to the talk?

A．Empty land.

B．Garbage.

C．Water.

2. What do people suggest to deal with garbage?

A．Burying it.

B．Sending it out of our planet.

C．Using it as an energy source.

3. What is the problem with burning garbage?

A．It is hardly ever done.

B．It causes air pollution.

C．It is useless for hard materials.

6 . Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.

Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects' lives, the researchers said. "We strongly believe artificial light at night — in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change — is driving insect declines,” the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies.

Insect population collapses have been reported around the world, and the first global scientific review published in February, said widespread declines threatened to cause a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems".

There are thought to be millions of insect species, most still unknown to science, and about half are active at night. Those active in the day may also be disturbed by light at night when they are at rest.

The most familiar impact of light pollution is moths (飞蛾) flapping around a bulb, mistaking it for the moon. Some insects use the polarisation of light to find the water they need to breed, as light waves line up after reflecting from a smooth surface. But artificial light can scupper (使泡汤) this. Insects are important prey (猎物) for many species, but light pollution can tip the balance in favour of the predator if it traps insects around lights. Such increases in predation risk were likely to cause the rapid extinction of affected species, the researchers said.

The researchers said most human-caused threats to insects have analogues in nature, such as climate change and invasive species. But light pollution is particularly hard for insects to deal with.

However, unlike other drivers of decline, light pollution is relatively easy to prevent. Simply turning off lights that are not needed is the most obvious action, he said, while making lights motion-activated also cuts light pollution. Shading lights so only the area needed is lit up is important. It is the same with avoiding blue-white lights, which interfere with daily rhythms. LED lights also offer hope as they can be easily tuned to avoid harmful colours and flicker rates.

1. What is the 5th paragraph mainly about?

A．How light travels in space.	B．How light helps insects find food.
C．How the food chain is interrelated.	D．How light pollution affects insects.

2. What does the underlined word “analogues” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A．Selective things.

B．Similar things.

C．Variations.

D．Limitations.

3. What is the purpose of the last paragraph?

A．To offer solutions.	B．To give examples.
C．To make comparisons.	D．To present arguments.

4. What is discussed in the passage?

A．Causes of declining insect populations.

B．Consequences of insect population collapses.

C．Light pollution: the key bringer of insect declines.

D．Insect declines: the driver of the collapsed ecosystem.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A new bill has been     1     (official） passed in the Philippines that requires students to plant 10 trees each before graduation. According to the details     2     (outline) in the bill, the rule applies to all students who are to graduate from primary school, high school, and college. Trees can be planted in     3     forests, reserves, urban areas, abandoned mining sites, or in communities.

Over the past decades, the Philippines     4    （lose） more than 30% of its forest cover due to     5    (legal) logging （伐木），but the new bill means that the younger generation can help to address the problem. Under the new rule, 175 million new trees could be planted by students each year. If only 10% of them survive,     6     means that 525 billion trees can grow up over the course of one generation.

In fact, this isn't the only positive rule     7    concerns the younger generation. One school in India made its students     8    (pay) their school fees by collecting, bringing to school, and recycling plastic waste that was lying     9     the town. This helped raise     10     （aware） of plastic waste in Asian countries. It also allowed more students to seek education and even helped the students to earn some money so they wouldn't have to rely on child labour for a living.

9 . Plastic pollution has long been a problem, but now it's gotten to a new height literally. Microplastic, referring to plastic fragments and particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter, have been found on Mount Qomolangma as high as 8,440 meters above sea level, just 408.86 meters below the peak of the mountain, according to a recent study published in the journal One Earth.

“These are the highest microplastics ever discovered so far.” lead author Imogen Napper from the University of Plymouth, UK, said in a statement. Scientists collected snow and water samples from 19 different locations from 4,200 meters above sea level all the way up to the summit of Mount Qomolangma. They found microplastics in all the water samples and part of the snow samples. The most polluted sample was from the Base Camp in Nepal, where most human activities on the mountain are concentrated. It had 79 particles of microplastics per liter of snow.

But how have these fragments made it all this way and in such a great abundance? The answer is apparent human activities. It is climbers who bring plastic products to the mountain. Even if they don't litter, just walking for 20 minutes or opening a bottle of water can release microplastics into the environment.

The harsh fact is that plastic pollution has reached even the most remote places on Earth. Researchers even found a plastic bag al the deepest point in the world's oceans—in the Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean. The bag is the same as the ones commonly used in grocery stores. Even covered in ice, the Arctic is still a victim of plastic pollution. A 2020 report published in Nature suggests that there are 2.000 to 17,000 plastic particles per cubic meter in Arctic ice cores, and between 0 to 18 microplastic particles per cubic meter from the water beneath ice floes. Experts think microplastics may be transported by air and then reach the North Pole in snowfall.

“What we don t yet fully know is the potential problems these tiny pieces of plastic could be having to ecosystems, to organisms and even to our own health as well,” said Christian Dunn of Bangor University, UK. Then what can we do? “We need to start focusing on deeper technological solutions that focus on microplastics, like changing fabric design and including natural fibers instead of plastic when possible.”

1. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?

A．The polluted samples from the peak were the most serious.

B．Plastic pollution has been discovered at high altitudes.

C．Humans have .climbed to the peak of Mount Qomolangma.

D．Microplastics are a newly-found material by researchers.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Microplastics may go far beyond the range of human activities.

B．The means of microplastics transportation has been confirmed.

C．There are frequent exchanges between Arctic ice cores and ice floes.

D．Bags from grocery stores are the main source of plastic pollution.

3. According to Christian Dunn, the key to addressing microplastic pollution is                    .

A．to prohibit the use of plastic products	B．to diversify the design of microplastics
C．to apply only natural fibrous alternatives	D．to develop more advanced technologies

4. Which of the following is the best title?

A．Litter in the Mariana Trench	B．New One Earth Campaigns
C．Pollution Reaches New Height	D．Adventurous Human Activists

10 . The company SpaceX has already launched hundreds of its Star-link satellites, with plans to put as many as 42,000 of them in Earth orbit. Its goal is to provide high-speed Internet to billions of people. Moving toward that kind of access is important, but it comes at a cost. Glittering with reflected sunlight, these first orbiters, sent up in the past year, are brighter than 99 percent of the 5,000 or so other satellites now circling Earth, and obviously there are going to be a lot more. This sudden increase is bad for astronomy: the probability of a Star-link satellite crossing a telescope’s field of view and ruining an observation will be quite high near sunset. For that reason, my fellow astronomers have signed a petition (请愿书) calling for governments to protect the night sky from this invasion.

In response to protests, SpaceX has promised to address the visibility problem by, for example, applying experimental coatings — essentially painting the satellites black — but the company’s aggressive launch schedule remains unchanged. And the satellites’ illuminated (被照亮) surfaces are mostly their solar panels — exactly the part that cannot be painted over.

Unfortunately, at present no regulations govern how bright a single satellite can be, let alone thousands of them together. Even if there were such regulations, one nation’s laws can not hinder (阻碍) another country’s launches. Space literally has no borders, and the sky will need to be protected at an international level. As a consequence, we hope that the United Nations will find a way to think outside of the box to save the sky for everyone.

When I was growing up in Montana, it was a game to be the first to find a moving satellite among the host of stars in the night sky. Soon it could be a game to recognize the constellations (星座) behind a swarm of moving points of light.

1. What is the writer’s attitude toward Space X’s launching plans?

A．Indifferent.

B．Doubtful.

C．Optimistic.

D．Disapproving.

2. Why have my fellow astronomers signed the petition?

A．SpaceX plans to send too many Star-line satellites into space.

B．The Star-line satellites will possibly ruin an observation near sunset.

C．The first orbiters are brighter than most of other satellites circling Earth.

D．Space X fails to provide high-speed Internet to people around the world.

3. According to the author, who should shoulder the responsibility to save the sky?

A．The United States.	B．The United Nations.
C．The company SpaceX.	D．Just one nation.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Preserve the Night Sky	B．Ban Star-line Satellites
C．Observe the Stars Attentively	D．Protest against Space X