1 . The artificial lighting which lines the world’s coastlines could be having a significant impact on species that rely on the moon and stars to find food, new research suggests.
Creatures such as the sand hopper(沙蚤) orientate(确定方位)their nightly migrations based on the moon’s position and brightness of the natural night sky. However, a study by Bangor University and the University of Plymouth shows the presence of artificial light originating from cities several kilometres away (also known as artificial sky glow) disrupts the lunar compass they use when covering long distances.
In some cases, this can lead to animals travelling towards the sea and away from food, while in others it reduces the chance of them venturing out for food at all. Writing in Current Biology, researchers say this could pose a distinct threat not just to the health of sand hopper populations but also the wider ecosystem, since they play an important role in breaking down and recycling algae washed up on coastlines.
Dr. Thomas Davies, Lecturer in Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth (UK), said, “Artificial sky glow is the most geographically widespread form of light pollution. Surveys have shown it can currently be detected above 23% of the world’s coasts nightly, and with coastal human populations set to at least double by 2060, its effects are only going to increase. Our results show it is already having obvious impacts on biological processes that are guided by celestial(天上的)light signals.”
Through the study, researchers find increasing evidence that light pollution from coastal cities can influence marine species inhabiting nearby beaches, rocky shores and even the seafloor. These results highlight how pervasive(遍布的)city lighting could be in shaping the ecology of coastlines kilometres distant from their nearest urban centres. They also highlight the potential for artificial sky glow to impact other species that undergo migrations using the moon as a compass.
“While our understanding of the impacts of street lights on nature has improved dramatically, artificial sky glow has been largely overlooked. More work is urgently needed to fully understand the extent to which it is shaping the natural environment.” Dr. Thomas Davies added.
1. Which of the following could best replace “disrupts” in paragraph 2?| A．disturbs | B．makes | C．unites | D．replaces |
| A．The ways of creatures hunting food. |
| B．The causes of animals migrating at night. |
| C．The results of ecosystems being destroyed. |
| D．The influence of artificial light on creatures. |
| A．It is the main pollution in cities. |
| B．It shapes the ecology of the ocean. |
| C．It has a great influence on surroundings. |
| D．It affects the migrations of sea creatures. |
| A．It is useless. | B．It is essential. |
| C．It is doubtful. | D．It is challenging. |
Suzhou,May 2020:According to a government's plan,all major cities in China are expected to start garbage classification this year, and the system should be completed and functioning by the end of 2025.The city of Suzhou has thus acted and related campaigns have been launched and flourishing throughout the neighborhoods.
In a summer camp,one of the events,a group of adolescents visited several waste treatment plants where they gained a better understanding of methods of sorting and recycling organic waste,sewage(生活污水）and sludge(生活污物）。In another event,a team of residents.and a team of students from a local college had a debate on"Should Practice of Garbage Classification Rely More on Law Enforcement or Moral Consciousness'.Many residents watched the debate and acquired a good knowledge of garbage classification in the process.Still another community offered the local administrative staff working on garbage disposal(处置）and environmental protection and staff from the local property management company a chance to visit a community in Wujiang District,Suzhou to learn experience for more efficient garbage classification.
【写作内容】
1.用约30个单词概述上述内容；
2.谈谈垃圾分类的重要性（至少两点）；
3.结合自身实际，谈谈作为学生你如何为保护和改善环境贡献自己的力量。
【写作要求】
1.表明个人观点，同时提供理由或论据；
2.阐述观点或提供论据时，不得直接引用原文中的句子；
3. 文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
4.不必写标题。
【评分标准】
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 . Pigeons in London have a bad reputation. Some people call them flying rats. And many blame them for causing pollution with their droppings. But now the birds are being used to fight another kind of pollution in this city of 8. 5 million.
“The problem for air pollution is that it’s been largely ignored as an issue for a long time,” says Andrea Lee, who works for the London-based environmental organization Client Earth. “People don’t realize how bad it is,and how it actually affects their health. ‘‘ London’s poor air quality is linked to nearly 10,000 early deaths a year. Lee says, citing report released by the city manager last year, “If people were better informed about the pollution they’re breathing,” she says,”they could pressure the government to do something about it. ‘‘
Nearby, on a windy hill in London’s Regent’s Park, an experiment is underway that could help-the first week of flights by the Pigeon Air Patrol. It all began when Pierre Duquesnoy, the director for DigitasLBi, a marketing firm, won a London Design Festival contest last year to show how a world problem could be solved using Twitter. Duquesnoy, from France, chose the problem of air pollution.
“Basically, I realized how important the problem was,v he says. “But also I realized that most of the people around me didn’t know anything about it. ‘‘ Duquesnoy says he wants to better measure pollution, while at the same time making the results accessible to the public through Twitter.
“So, “ he wondered, “how could we go across the city quickly collecting as much data as possible?” Drones ( 无人驾驶飞机)were his first thought. But it’s illegal to fly them over London. “But pigeons can fly above London,right?” he says. “They live -actually? they are Londoners as well. So, yeah, I thought about using pigeons equipped with mobile apps. And we can use not just street pigeons, but racing pigeons, because they fly pretty quickly and pretty low. “
So it might be time for Londoners to have more respect for their pigeons. The birds may just be helping to improve the quality of the city's air.
1. What can we infer about London’s air quality from paragraph 2?| A．Londoners are very satisfied with it. |
| B．The government is trying to improve it. |
| C．The government has done a lot to improve it. |
| D．Londoners should pay more attention to it. |
| A．entertain Londoners | B．solve a world problem |
| C．design a product for sale | D．protect animals like pigeons |
| A．Because they are too expensive | B．Because they fly too quickly. |
| C．Because they are forbidden. | D．Because they fly too high. |
| A．London’s New Pollution Fighter |
| B．London’s Dirty Secret |
| C．Clean Air in London |
| D．Causes of Air Pollution in London |
4 . Off the Marianas Islands, in a remote stretch of the Pacific Ocean, lies a deep trench. A trench so deep that it could accommodate the tallest mountain range—the Himalayas, and still have a mile of water above!
The Mariana Trench stretches for 2, 550km along the Pacific Ocean floor and is 70km wide. The deepest part of the trench, Challenger Deep, lies 7 miles below the ocean surface. Mariana Trench is part of a network of trenches that cross the ocean floor.
How do these trenches form? Our Earth is made up of tectonic plates which connect with each other like giant jigsaw puzzles. The plates are constantly moving because of the molten lava inside our Earth. When one tectonic plate dives under another plate, trenches are formed.
The sheer depth of Mariana Trench makes it hard to explore. Sunlight does not reach that far down, covering it in permanent darkness. The water pressure at the deepest point is nearly 1,000 times more than at the surface. Despite these inhospitable conditions, some of the strangest creatures are found in the trench—creatures that produce their own light.
A team of researchers decided to study the zone, an area of water that is 3.7 miles to 6.8 miles below the surface.
The research team sent traps underwater to catch the tiny prawn-like amphipods (片脚动物) and tested them. They found extremely high levels of chemicals, known to cause health issues like cancer. These family of chemicals known as POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) were used extensively in pesticides until they were banned in the 1970s, and some are still in use today.
The POPs do not break down. They are ingested by the larger marine animals and when they die and sink to the bottom of the oceans, the smaller creatures feast on them. The chemicals then enter the bodies of these amphipods and other smaller marine creatures, and disrupt their hormone balances. And thus, the cycle continues.
While we may think that our oceans are pristine, this latest finding tells us that in a trench far……far away from any industrial city, we humans are leaving our footprint.
1. According to the text, the Mariana Trench ________.| A．covers the Pacific Ocean floor |
| B．remains dark all the time |
| C．is like a giant jigsaw puzzle |
| D．lies 7km below the ocean surface |
| A．the molten lava inside the earth |
| B．the cause of moving plates |
| C．the formation of the trench |
| D．the make-up of tectonic plates |
| A．By taking some soil from the ocean bottom. |
| B．By measuring the water pressure. |
| C．By getting some water from the trench. |
| D．By analyzing the creatures living in the trench. |
| A．The Mariana Trench is seriously polluted. |
| B．The Mariana Trench is totally dark. |
| C．The Mariana Trench is deadly poisonous. |
| D．The Mariana Trench is greatly wonderful. |
5 . Fireworks have been enjoyed by countless people ever since they were invented in China during the Tang Dynasty hundreds of years ago. From small family gatherings (团聚) to huge global celebrations, there isn’t a party that couldn’t be made more fun with a few fireworks. But it seems that there’s a big price to pay for some brief beauty and fun.
It’s been discovered that fireworks contain metals such as copper (铜) and lead, in addition to other pollutants like perchlorates (高氯酸盐). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, perchlorates can form naturally or be made. They are an industrial chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives (炸药), and are soluble (可溶解的) in water.
This is a reason for concern because perchlorates negatively affect the thyroid gland (甲状腺), which influences important bodily functions like blood pressure and heart rate.
Furthermore, a study conducted by Terry Gordon, a professor at New York University, examined the emissions(排放物) whose sizes were big enough to enter the lungs. They concluded that these emissions may lead to various dangerous conditions like cancer, heart attacks, and strokes (中风).
It is worth noticing, however, that no studies have proven the connctions between these conditions and the dangerous chemicals in fireworks.
However, the negative effects of firework emissions can be observed in birds. Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds warns against setting off fireworks close to wildlife areas as they may cause confusion among birds.
In 2010, an incident involving 5,000 red-winged blackbirds falling out of the sky on New Year’s Eve in Arkansas, US supported this idea. A fireworks display held at a nesting ground for blackbirds led to the birds’ night sight being affected, causing them to fall to their deaths.
Arguably (可以说), the use of fireworks during celebrations may be because people don’t realize how they pollute our environment. Companies and researchers could take this cue (线索) and find other new, eco-friendly ways.
After all, for all the beauty fireworks bring, there’s no better beauty than that of our planet’s.
1. According to the article, perchlorates contained in fireworks ______.| A．do harm to the thyroid gland |
| B．raise the risk of cancer |
| C．are dangerous when put in water |
| D．are made from copper and lead |
| A．fireworks are directly connected with lung cancer |
| B．the waste from fireworks could threaten our body |
| C．chemicals in fireworks could increase our blood pressure |
| D．our body is strong enough to fight against the pollutants in fireworks |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Neutral. |
6 . Nowadays, the most effective way to get power comes from burning fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. They are less costly than other forms of energy. But burning fuels releases carbon dioxide, known as CO2 gas. Scientists agree that increasing amount of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere is partly to blame for the rising temperature. It's clear the change in the atmosphere can have a big effect on the weather condition around the world.
However, keeping extra CO2 from entering the atmosphere is a difficult process. It’s not enough to advise people to burn the fuels in a clean way. As a result, scientists are looking for the best method for capturing the gas and storing it away from the atmosphere. Some of this research is taking place in Norway. The Technology Center in Mongstad (TCM) is the largest facility in the world for major testing of the CO2-capturing technology.
Tore Amundsen is its chairman. He says TCM has produced important information since it opened. The center is connected to a nearby electric power plant. It treats the waste gas from the plant using the chemical solvent (溶剂) which attracts the CO2 molecules. Then researchers take the solvent with the CO2 molecules and boil it. In this way, they can separate CO2 from the solvent and use the solvent again to capture more CO2. TCM can help capture 90 percent of the CO2 from the waste gas. With the current state of technology, it will increase the cost of electricity between perhaps 30% to 40% when the technology is applied to a power plant.
Experts say the best way to store the captured CO2 gas is to place it below the surface of the ground. Scientists can use the pumping technology to put it into areas left empty after the removal of oil or natural gas. But TCM does not pump the CO2 it captures. Instead, it releases the gas into the atmosphere. Tore Amundsen says only highly developed industrial nations can afford the pumping technology. So far, only Canada has a power plant that pumps CO2 gas. In total, there are just a few similar power plants in the world.
1. What can we learn about the CO2 gas?| A．It is usually found in coal. |
| B．It leads to world climate change. |
| C．It is a new kind of energy. |
| D．It does good to the atmosphere. |
| A．sending it into the atmosphere |
| B．finding clean fuels to use |
| C．collecting it with technology |
| D．stopping people from burning fuels |
| A．It works well in treating the waste gas. |
| B．It’s the only center to study the CO2 gas. |
| C．It was set up by Tore Amundsen. |
| D．It helps the power plant save a lot of money. |
| A．can be used with oil or natural gas |
| B．should be put underground |
| C．must be allowed to go into the air |
| D．should stay in the chemical solvent |
7 . An invention to tackle canal plastics pollution was one of the highlights of the recent Amsterdam International Water Week.
The instrument, named"the great Bubble barrier" is a bubble screen that will remove plastic trash from the canals and therefore prevent it from flowing through to the river IJ and the North Sea.
“This is a very important step in reducing the amount of plastic in the oceans,”co-inventor Philip Ehrhorn said “It is a lot easier to stop it at an earlier stage instead of in the ocean.”
The tool works as follows. By pumping air through a tube with holes in it, which is located on the bottom of a waterway, a bubble barrier appears. This creates an upward thrust, which brings waste to the surface of the water.
By placing it diagonally in the waterway, the barrier uses the natural current to guide the plastic to the catchment system at the riverside. Both ships and fish can pass through the Bubble Barrier, but plastic will be stopped.
The invention's origins go back around four years, when Dutch students Saskia Studer, Anne Marieke Eveleens and Francis Zoet looked at the bubbles of a beer glass in a bar and thought they should do something similar. Ehrhorn, a German student, had the same idea. After he found out about the plans of the three Dutch women, they decided to join forces in Amsterdam.
“It is the first step of many”, Ehrhorn continued on the project. “First, the different rivers and canals in the Netherlands-cities, industrial areas, ports. In the following years ,we will go to the rest of Europe, Asia and elsewhere.”
“We have learned to live with water and have built a thriving society.”Nijhof said.
1. What's a bubble barrier?| A．A dam made of concrete. | B．An invention to trap plastic. |
| C．A canal to deal with waste. | D．A container to hold beer. |
| A．The barrier is effective in a way. |
| B．It's easy to deal with plastic. |
| C．This instrument can deal with all waste. |
| D．We can do nothing with sea waste. |
| A．Paragraph 1&2. | B．Paragraph 2&3. |
| C．Paragraph 3&4. | D．Paragraph 4&5. |
| A．Plastic becomes easier to remove. |
| B．An action to remove the plastic. |
| C．An instrument will be invented. |
| D．A new invention to fight plastic pollution. |
8 . Have you ever wondered how many cigarettes you're passively smoking while walking through the streets of a polluted, smog-infused((烟雾笼罩的)city?No?Well, a pair of digital developers just invented an app that will definitely and accurately answer that question.
Shit, I Smoke! was created by Brazilian-born designer Marcelo Coelho and Paris-born app developer Amaury Martiny in just a week, after they read a study that analyzed air pollution and its equivalent(等量)to cigarette smoking. The article, co-written by Richard Mueller, a MacArthur fellow and physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, explains a mathematical model that compares smoking and tobacco-related deaths to levels of PM2.5, a microscopic particle(微粒)that is a dangerous, cancerous pollutant after burning.
The app shows that Parisians can effectively inhale(吸入) between three and six cigarettes per day, while a person in Delhi could be smoking up to 20 cigarettes-without even touching one--on a bad day. Other cities have worrying numbers, too (6. 5 cigarettes daily in Mexico City ).
“I was surprised to see that Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo have the best air quality in all Latin America,despite the fact that these are heavily populated cities,”said Coelho, who's originally from the latter, Brazil's largest city.
For both Coelho and Martiny, the app isn't only a useful tool to inform users about their city's air quality;it also makes this information more accessible and easier to understand. “These air-quality monitoring stations are just numbers, numbers that are very specific to professionals who work in environmental issues,” Martiny said. “So when you make this conversion(转换)to cigarettes, it makes it easier to understand what people are dealing with and the consequences air quality has in the daily lives.”
The developers' plan now is to keep working on and enriching the app's features. This will most likely include monthly average cigarette rates, and enabling users to get data from cities other than the one they're in.
1. What does the underlined part “that question” mean?| A．How severely a city's air is polluted. |
| B．How harmful it is to smoke in urban areas. |
| C．How many cigarettes one usually smokes daily. |
| D．How much harmful air you're taking in in urban areas. |
| A．Paris | B．Delhi. |
| C．Mexico City. | D．Sao Paulo. |
| A．Brazil might have good air |
| B．his hometown was a badly polluted city. |
| C．air pollution wasn't a problem in Latin America. |
| D．Buenos Aires had the best air quality in Latin America |
| A．Encouraging people to abandon the habit of smoking. |
| B．Recommending some best places for people to live in. |
| C．Helping people better know their everyday air quality. |
| D．Reminding people to do something good for the environment. |
9 . The United Nations Environment Program is calling for urgent action to reduce growing risks from chemicals. Better management of chemicals could save millions of lives and billions of dollars. As estimated, 143,000 chemicals are now produced. Yet the report says only a small number of these chemicals have been studied for their effects on human health and the environment. It says death and disability rates are high from the unsafe use of chemical products.
Sylvie Lemmet, director of the UNEP, says poor management of chemicals has a high economic cost. For example, she says the cost is higher than the amount of overseas development aid, or ODA, for health care in sub-Saharan Africa.
She says, “If you look at the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide (杀虫剂) in sub-Saharan Africa, only the injury and the loss of working time is estimated to be 6.3 billion US dollars in 2009. This is higher than the total ODA that is going to the health part in the same area.”
The UNEP estimates that chemical sales worldwide will increase by around three percent a year until 2050. Chemical production is moving quickly from developed to developing countries. By 2020, chemical production is expected to increase by 40 percent in Africa and the Middle East and 33 percent in Latin America. One of its biggest concerns is pollution of rivers and lakes by pesticide and fertilizer. Other major concerns are heavy metal pollution from the production of cement (水泥) and textiles (纺织品), and dioxin pollution from mining.
The UN report urges the chemical industry and governments to work together to develop safety policies. It says preventing harm costs less than fixing it.
1. The purpose of Paragraph 3 is mainly to indicate that ______.| A．chemicals have a high production cost |
| B．Africa needs more development aid |
| C．the use of pesticide causes a great loss |
| D．the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide is incorrect |
| A．Pesticide. | B．Fertilizer. |
| C．Heavy metals. | D．Minerals. |
| A．The mass production of cement and textiles. |
| B．Lack of research funds on chemicals. |
| C．Poor management of chemicals. |
| D．Contradictions between chemical producers and governments. |
| A．The truth in Sylvie Lemmet’s comments |
| B．A UN warning about chemical dangers |
| C．The unpredictable future of chemical industry |
| D．Preventing is much better than fixing |
10 . Delhi has been the centre of a succession of mighty empires and powerful kingdoms in India. Numerous ruins scattered throughout the territory offer a constant reminder of the area's history, which makes the city always be a fascinating place for tourists.
With the development of the city and more and more people moving, the city has expanded several times in size. That is why it is called New Delhi. New Delhi, a city with a population of over 20 million people, has its newest problem: never before has this city met with the worst air problem.
Air pollution in Indians capital surged to its worst levels in years, covering the city in a thick smog that has become an annual public-health emergency despite government vows to solve the problem.
Hundreds of flights were diverted, delayed and canceled over the weekend due to poor visibility, schools and offices were closed Monday and officials rushed to take emergency measures to try to reverse the eroding air quality. Millions of antipollution masks were distributed at schools, colleges, hospitals and markets.
New Delhi, is engulfed each year as the weather cools and a thick haze builds up from the pollutants emitted from cars and coal-based power plants, swirling dust from construction sites and roads and smoke from crop stubble burning in neighboring states. Fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali then arrives, leaving Delhi the world's most polluted city.
The city's air quality index, which measures a mix of dangerous pollutants, registered an average score of 494 Sunday. That is the highest 24-hour average since Nov. 6 , 2016 , when it hit 497, according to data measured by the Central Pollution Control Board.
1. Which of the following is NOT true?| A．Diwali is one of the most important festivals in India. |
| B．The government did little to protect its citizens against the serious pollution. |
| C．Such a serious air pollution in New Delhi appears on a regular basis. |
| D．The index of the recent air pollution is not the worst in the history. |
| A．The parents whose children have to stay at home. |
| B．The pilots whose planes have been diverted or delayed. |
| C．The manufacturers who produce antipollution masks. |
| D．The officials who have to work out of their offices. |
| A．Sent out. | B．Sent up. |
| C．Sent in. | D．Sent on. |
| A．Problems Caused by the Development of New Delhi |
| B．Dangerous Pollution Envelops New Delhi |
| C．Antipollution Masks Are in Great Need in New Delhi |
| D．Farmers in the Neighboring States are to Blame for Burning Crop Stubble |
