On April 22nd, the UNEP（United Nation Environment Programme）called for increasing protection of Antarctica,
Since 2019, scientists have travelled around the world, determined
Therefore, it's time that action
2 . The effects of noise can reach organisms (生物体) without ears. Because of the way living things rely on each other, noise pollution may actually stop some forests from growing, a new study suggests. In a New Mexico woodland of pine trees, researchers found far fewer tree seedlings (小苗) in noisy sites than they did in quiet ones.
The study area is dotted with gas wells, some of which are quiet and some of which have compressors (压缩机) that create a constant noise. This allowed Jennifer Phillips, a behavioral ecologist at Texas A&M University-San Antonio and her colleagues to compare sites that were similar except for noise level. In areas that had been noisy for at least 15 years, the researchers found only about 13 pine seedlings, compared with 55 pine seedlings per hectare (公顷) in quiet areas.
The differences in plant growth were probably caused by changes in animal behavior, said Phillips. For example, noise might drive away certain pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as bees, bats and moths. In the case of pine trees, the problem was likely a lack of animals to disperse seeds. Pines depend on birds to carry their seeds away from the parent tree, and birds are known to avoid noise. The differences between the sites aren’t yet obvious to someone walking through them, said Sarah Termondt, a botanist (植物学家) with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who helped conduct the study. That’s probably because pines are slow-growing, with most of the mature trees in such woodlands being over a century old.
The study raises questions about the future of the area. “If the noise stays there long term, are we going to lose this important ecosystem of the pine which supports so much wildlife?” said Phillips. The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
1. What does the new study focus on?| A．The influence of noise pollution on plants. |
| B．The way the organisms receive noise. |
| C．The harm of noise pollution to insects. |
| D．The effects of noise pollution on humans . |
| A．Gas wells dotted in the area provide favorable conditions for the study. |
| B．The study sites are different in many ways including their noise level. |
| C．It is difficult for plants to live without noise and animals. |
| D．People can easily find the difference between the noisy and the quiet sites. |
| A．Seedling. | B．Thin. |
| C．Grown-up. | D．Tall. |
| A．Noise pollution is obviously a trouble that can be avoided. |
| B．Noise pollution could be a threat with the power to change ecosystems. |
| C．The pine forest is important because it supports so much wildlife. |
| D．Wildlife should be well protected for the future of this area. |
3 . One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste— electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that “This project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault. ”
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense — collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, director of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?| A．E-waste is thrown away because it’s cheaper to find a new substitute. |
| B．UN reports the number of e-waste generated will nearly double by 2050. |
| C．E-waste will be reduced if more projects like Restart Project are launched . |
| D．The Re-start Project can help people who have found a fault to purchase items. |
| A．Stopping. | B．increasing. |
| C．falling. | D．disappearing. |
| A．What is damaging our planet? | B．What is significant for E-recycling? |
| C．E-waste mining benefits more. | D．New lives are brought to E-waste. |
| A．He is doubtful about it. | B．He is concerned but full of confidence. |
| C．He thinks it’s just a piece of cake. | D．He supposes there’s a long way to go. |
4 . The fertile land of the Nile delta is being eroded (侵蚀) along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast at an astonishing rate, in some parts estimated at 100 metres per year. In the past, land washed away from the coastline by the currents of the Mediterranean Sea used to be replaced by sediment (沉淀物) brought down to the delta by the River Nile, but this is no longer happening.
Up to now, people have blamed this loss of delta land on the two large Aswan dams in the south of Egypt, which hold back almost all of the sediment that used to flow down the river. Before the dams were built, the Nile flowed freely carrying huge quantities of sediment. But when the Aswan dams were constructed to provide electricity and irrigation, and to protect the huge population centre of Cairo from annual flooding and drought, most of the sediment with its natural fertilizer accumulated up above the dam in the southern upstream half of Lake Nasser, instead of passing down to the della.
Now, however, there turns out to be more to the story. It appears that the sediment-free water picks up sand as it erodes the river bed and banks on the 800-kilometre trip to Cairo. Daniel Jean Stanley of the Smithsonian Institute noticed that water samples taken in Cairo indicated that the river sometimes carries more than 850 grams of sediment per cubic metre of water — almost half of what it carried before the dams were built.
International environmental organizations are beginning to pay closer attention to the region, partly because of the problems of erosion and pollution of the Nile delta, but mainly because they fear the impact this situation could have on the whole Mediterranean coastal ecosystem.
But there are no easy solutions. In the immediate future, Stanley believes that one solution would be to make artificial floods to flush out the delta waterways, in the same way that natural floods did before the construction of the dams. He says, however, that in the long term an alternative process such as desalination (脱盐) may have to be used to increase the amount of water available.
1. What stopped the sediment coming down to the delta?| A．The Mediterranean Sea. | B．The River Nile. |
| C．The Aswan dams. | D．Lake Nasser. |
| A．To flush out the river beds. |
| B．To offer electricity and protection. |
| C．To make the water in the River Nile clean. |
| D．To keep the soil in the region nearby nutrient-rich. |
| A．There is no need to worry about the delta. |
| B．The methods of measurement need improving. |
| C．Whether the situation is good or not remains to be seen. |
| D．The dams’ consequences are beyond people’s expectation. |
| A．Difficulties to be settled. |
| B．Rewards for the challenge. |
| C．Severe influence of the situation. |
| D．Possible solutions to the problem. |
5 . Ladies and gentlemen，I returned to this year in a time machine.In the year 2500，we are able to travel through time to any year in the history of the earth.This year is your last chance to change your lifestyle to save the earth.
Beginning in the middle of the 20th century，a few people were worried about polluting the earth’s water and air，but most people did not change their way of life.Instead，they continued to pour dangerous chemicals and other waste into lakes and seas，to drive more and more cars and trucks，and to cut down trees.
By the year 2200，the earth’s water was completely polluted.People could no longer drink water，and they had to use other types of liquids.
So，by the year 2300，there were so many people that food became scarce.There was no water to grow food and all of the fish in the lakes and seas died because of pollution.Terrible wars broke out between the rich and the poor.Scientists were working very hard to find another planet in space where humans could live.
By the year 2400，the air was too polluted for humans to breathe.So we had to leave the earth.But only the rich were able to leave.Where did we go？Nowhere.The scientists did not find another safe planet，so now we must travel around the universe in our spaceships.We are still looking for a place to call our home.
So，it is up to you to change the history.There is still hope.You must change your lifestyle now，before it is too late.
1. What’s the meaning of “scarce” in Paragraph 4?| A．Valuable. | B．Enough. |
| C．Lacking. | D．Special. |
| A．Only a few people changed their lifestyle in the 20th century. |
| B．There wasn’t enough food for people to eat by the year 2200. |
| C．All the animals died because of pollution by the year 2300. |
| D．We found a new home in another planet by the year 2400. |
| A．Stop Polluting | B．Change or Leave |
| C．Look for New Home | D．Return to the Earth |
6 . “When I was 16 years old, I was scuba diving (水肺潜水) in Greece, but I was disappointed because I saw more plastic bags than fish.” These are the words of Boyan Slat, 25, an engineer who designed the world’s first ocean plastic cleanup system.
Every year, over 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans. These can take up to 500 years to break down. If left alone, sea animals become entangled (缠绕的) in them and can even die if the plastics are taken in. Worse, humans can be affected when these plastics break down. “Smaller pieces enter the food chain, and that’s a food chain that includes us humans,” Slat said.
In 2018, the World Economic Forum predicted that the weight of ocean plastics will match the weight of all the fish in our oceans by 2050. To prevent this depressing reality, Slat created The Ocean Cleanup in 2013 and put his plan for an ocean plastic cleanup device into action.
After years of research and development in the Netherlands, a device called System 001/B successfully started gathering plastic on Oct 2, 2019.
The device uses a 600-meter-long “C” shaped tube to gather all the floating rubbish. Unlike other cleanup methods, the system floats freely according to the direction of the waves, which allows waste to flow into and stay within the device.
A sea anchor is attached to either end. This slows down the system as it floats through the water and allows the faster-moving rubbish, carried by the waves, to flow into its mouth. System 001/B can also collect waste below the surface using a 3-meter-deep skirt (挡板) attached to the end. After being gathered, the rubbish will be dragged back to shore by boat and recycled.
Currently, the system operates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area that is three times the size of France. Once operational, the Ocean Cleanup expects a full fleet to be able to clear 50 percent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years.
It remains to be seen if this dream will become a reality, but it is undeniable that humanity must work together to reduce our plastic use and repair the damage our waste has caused.
“We are starting to see a young generation that gets that and is excited about a sustainable future, but the question still comes down to: Are we going fast enough, and how much damage will have been done before we get there?” Slat said.
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the first two paragraphs?| A．Slat took up scuba diving at the age of 16. |
| B．Slat showed a great interest in ocean environments. |
| C．Plastics pose a great threat to sea animals and humans. |
| D．It doesn’t take long to break down the plastics in the ocean. |
| A．Many sea creatures take in plastics. |
| B．Humans are influenced by the plastics. |
| C．Ocean plastics are difficult to get rid of. |
| D．The weight of ocean plastics will reach a new peak. |
| A．It floats in a fixed direction. |
| B．It started collecting plastic about two years ago. |
| C．It collects and recycles the rubbish at the same time. |
| D．It aims to clear the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in a decade. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Indifferent. | C．Positive. | D．Tolerant. |
7 . While visiting Lake Louise last summer, one of the most famous sights in the Canadian Rockies, I saw a plastic spoon float by in the green water. Whether someone had thrown the spoon into the water, or if it was blown in by the wind, the sight surprised me. It was a sad reminder (提醒物) of the reach that plastic pollution has. Try as I might, I could not reach that spoon, and had to watch it float away.
Grist wrote about the problem of plastic cutlery (餐具) in an article called “It’s time to take America’s plastic fork problem seriously”: “It’s hard to say how many forks, spoons, and knives Americans throw away, but in 2015 we placed nearly 2 billion delivery (递送) orders. If at least half those meals included single-use cutlery, that would mean we’re throwing away billions of cutlery each year. They don’t just disappear. A recent study of the San Francisco Bay Area found that food and drink packaging made up 67 percent of all litter on the streets.”
Fiona Nicholls, ocean plastics campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “We can’t carry on using up land or cutting down forests to make cutlery, cups or packaging that get used for a matter of moments, and could pollute our planet for hundreds of years to come. It’s grotesque.”
As members of the community, we should do our part to stop single-use cutlery. One way is to throw a travel set of reusable cutlery into your bag. Even if you don’t have your own set or forget to bring it with you, there are other ways. When eating out, choose places that offer reusable cutlery. Finger foods like pizza, tacos or sandwiches are also nice choices. If you’re ordering food for delivery, you can also say “no thanks” to plastic forks, knives and spoons.
1. How did the author feel upon his discovery at Lake Louise?| A．He felt relaxed. |
| B．He was nervous. |
| C．He was worried. |
| D．He felt encouraged. |
| A．The problem of using plastic is serious. |
| B．The streets in American cities are not tidy. |
| C．At least half of meals are wasted every year. |
| D．Many people spend money on takeaway food. |
| A．useful. |
| B．boring. |
| C．satisfying. |
| D．unreasonable. |
| A．Single-use cutlery harms the environment. |
| B．Single-use cutlery is in great need every year. |
| C．People’s opinions on single-use cutlery are divided. |
| D．People can use different ways to stop using. |
8 . As our boat moves quickly up and down in a windy ice-filled small bay, I try to judge the health condition of the polar bear (北极熊)in front of me. We are in Franz Josef Land, a remote part of Russia between the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
While offshore bears follow the sea ice, hunting seals (海豹)on ice all year round, bears that live by the sea spend their summers on land and are forced to search for whatever they can find. Relying on low-calorie meals such as the eggs of nesting seabirds, it is harder for these bears to pack on the pounds. Researchers recently found that offshore bears around the Barents Sea are some of the most polluted animals on Earth. This is a direct consequence of the seals they feed on.
Over a period of 14 years' study, Heli Routti from the Norwegian Polar Institute found that offshore female bears were in a better health, having greater body weight, than female bears by the sea, but on average their levels of pollutants called PFASs are 33 percent higher.
PFASs are used to make industrial products which are poisonous and degrade (降解)very slowly. These pollutants find their way to the Arctic through air, where they fall in snow and gradually add up in the ice. As the ice melts every summer, the PFASs go into the water, where they enter the food chain. They eventually make their way into the fat that keeps seals warm and from there into the bears that eat them.
During my 15 days in Franz Josef Land, I saw five bears, all living by the sea. Each looked relatively healthy. There are signs that these bears are dealing with the global-warming-caused ice loss relatively well. “The bears, so far, seem to be handling the sea ice loss,” says Andrew Derocher at the University of Alberta, who worked with Routti on the study, “But I'm sure that's going to change if the speed of ice loss increases sharply in the area.”
1. From the text we can learn polar bears living by the sea ________.| A．eat seals on ice all year round |
| B．look for food on land in summer |
| C．become the most polluted animals on Earth |
| D．stay on the ice in summer to avoid hot weather |
| A．Put on weight. | B．Move around. |
| C．Fight against pollution. | D．Live alone. |
| A．The rate of PFASs' degradation. | B．The effects of PFASs on the environment. |
| C．The process of PFASs' entering polar bears. | D．The application of PFASs in modern industry. |
| A．More pollutants may go into the air. | B．It will make no difference to bears. |
| C．The death rate of seals may increase. | D．Bears might fail to adapt to the change. |
9 . Carbon dioxide makes up less than one percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. But the gas is very important to life on Earth. Scientists are finding that processes involving carbon dioxide affect our climate in ways that are difficult to understand. Last month, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington released a report. It confirmed that increased about six-tenths of a degree Celsius in the last one hundred years. The report also confirmed evidence that the level of carbon dioxide is increasing.
The best information about climate in the past comes from tests of ice many kilometers deep in Antarctica and Greenland. The tests show changes in temperature during the past four-hundred-thousand years. These tests show that levels of carbon dioxide today are the highest ever measured. These findings have led scientists to believe that carbon dioxide is a major cause of climate warming.
Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fuel is burned. Oil, coal and wood are all fuels that release the gas. When biological waste breaks down, it also releases carbon dioxide.
However, plants use carbon dioxide in the process called photosynthesis. This process provides food for almost all life on Earth. Some groups that support burning oil and coal want to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They oppose international efforts to control carbon dioxide.
Some scientists believe that forests and trees are able to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. Some groups even suggest carbon dioxide could cause plants to grow faster.
A recent study in North Carolina found that more carbon dioxide in the air could cause trees to grow faster. But the researchers found the effect appears to last for only three years. Another study showed that much of the carbon dioxide that is taken in by trees is released within three years. The study noted that leaves release carbon dioxide when they fall from trees and break down in the soil. Plants also naturally release carbon dioxide through the process of respiration.
The natural balance of gases in the atmosphere is a complex scientific issue. The debate over carbon dioxide is only one part of efforts to understand world climate change.
1. The committee report of National Academy of Sciences in Washington reveal that________.| A．ice from Antarctica and Greenland is appropriate to show the change |
| B．carbon dioxide is released mainly from the fuel |
| C．level of carbon dioxide increases with global temperatures |
| D．carbon dioxide is helpful for tree growth |
| A．they think that carbon is beneficial for plant growth |
| B．they want to use more fuels that can emit carbon dioxide |
| C．they think carbon dioxide is not the main reason for global warming |
| D．they think it will destroy the natural balance of gases in the world |
| A．organ | B．topic |
| C．publication | D．result |
| A．trees’ function for absorbing carbon dioxide is limited |
| B．carbon dioxide is the main cause for global warming |
| C．leaves falling from trees can emit more oxygen |
| D．more carbon dioxide is beneficial for trees’ growth for many decades |
10 . 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. |
| A．Selective things. | B．Similar things. | C．Variations. | D．Limitations. |
| A．To offer solutions. | B．To give examples. |
| C．To make comparisons. | D．To present arguments. |
| 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. |
