-
Sometimes it can be easy to become too satisfied when it comes to living sustainably. We may all have recycling bins in our kitchens, but here are some ways you can live more sustainably.
1. Put an end to plastic water bottles and one-off coffee cups
The only way this is going to work is that if you have reusable options you really love, invest in a great water bottle. This is an advance payment, but it will save you money in the long run. A 750ml bottle of Evian costs 90p in Tesco, meaning if you buy one every two days you could save £10 within three weeks by filling up a reusable bottle at home.
2. _______________________________________
The high street is problematic on so many different levels. Not only are you buying items with questionable supply chains, but the carbon footprint of each product is shocking as well. Online shopping is even worse, with overpackaging for each item and the emissions from delivery trucks. The answer is to stick to reach-me-down or previously owned items as much as possible. Not only will this save you money, but there’s also a sense of satisfaction in finding a hidden treasure from the flea market where you find outstanding bargains or something used, which you simply can't get from shopping in Wal-Mart or on Amazon.
3. Think hard about your transportation
Even if your car is supposedly a low-emissions model, it’s still going to be a huge contribution to your carbon footprint. There are times when getting in a car can’t be avoided, but if you can substitute just one flight a year with a train, one car journey a week with a bus. and one bus a month with a bike ride, you’ll find that making more mindful transport decisions can easily make your day-to-day life more environmentally friendly with little effort.
4. Try to buy local, seasonal produce
You may think buying strawberries in December or courgettes in spring is no big deal, but the chemicals and fuel used to artificially copy the right environment for them to grow create harmful gas emissions. Similarly, the environmental impact of transporting produce from another country is huge. Buying from local farmers also means you can often ignore the huge amounts of packaging the supermarkets use.
1.According to the passage, if we want to lower our carbon footprint, we’d better ________.
A. purchase a 75ml bottle of Evian in Tesco every other day
B. never do some shopping in Wal-Mart or on Amazon
C. buy strawberries in December or courgettes in spring
D. take transport with a low-emissions model if possible
2.Which of the following is most suitable to fill in the blank?
A. Avoid too much traffic on the high street.
B. Buy items without questionable supply chains.
C. Buy second-hand products as much as possible.
D. Avoid buying items with excessive packaging.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
-
A recent study presents the possibility of “carbon farming” as a less risky alternative to other carbon capture and storage technologies. It suggests that a significant percentage of atmospheric CO2 could potentially be removed by planting millions of acres of a shrub known as the Barbados nut（麻疯树）, in dry, coastal areas. But other experts doubted whether the Barbados nut would be able to grow well in sandy desert soils and absorb the quantity of carbon their models predict.
The researchers behind the study say Barbados nut plantations（种植园）could help to reduce the local effects of global warming in desert areas, causing a decrease in average temperature and an increase in rainfall. If a large enough portion of the Earth were blanketed with carbon farms, these local effects could become global, capturing between 17 and 25 metric tons of CO2 per hectare each year over a 20-year period.
Carbon farms would not compete with food production if they were concentrated in dry coastal areas. In their analysis, oceanside desalination（海水淡化）plants provide a low-emission irrigation method. The study states that the Barbados nut is uniquely suited to growing in regions unsuitable for other crops .The plant, which produces a non-edible seed that can be used to create biodiesel（生物柴油）, is comfortable growing at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It can also stand up to high levels of pollution in the soil, making waste water another potential source for irrigation.
The cost of carbon farming is comparable to the costs associated with other carbon capture and storage technologies, the study claims. Wulfmeyer stressed that carbon farming could have “fantastic value for the local people” if international carbon markets pick up, promoting rural development and opening up the possibility of additional agriculture as the soil quality improves around the plantation.
In an email, Van Noordwijk, a chief science advisor, questioned the growth rate and the atmospheric carbon capture rate assumed by the study's authors, calling the estimated carbon price of the plantations a “considerable underestimate”. “We are talking about a plant with a shrubby growth habit and a long track record of misleading farmers with production potentials that are not being realized,” he said, and “Even with abundant water, the nutrient storage in sandy desert soil is low. He added, “The estimated carbon price of this option already indicates that there are far better opportunities for reducing ongoing emissions from peatland（泥炭地）use and deforestation.”
1.In the opinion of researches behind the study, all of the following will happen EXPECT ________.
A. an increase of rain B. a drop in temperature
C. the reduction of soil pollution D. the relief of global warming
2.Which of the following characteristics does NOT belong to the Barbados nut?
A. The eatable seeds of the tree. B. High temperature resistant.
C. Biological sources of energy. D. Adaptability to dirty water.
3.What is the attitude of Van Noordwijk towards the study?
A. Interested. B. Positive. C. Indifferent. D. Critical.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
Empathy is the ability to share and understand the emotions of others. It is a construct of multiple components, each of which is associated with its own brain network. New research has found empathy may have a genetic component that affects personality, and cognition, psychiatric (relating to mental illness) conditions. The findings are highlighted in a new study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, the University Paris Diderot and the Institute Pasteur, and 23andMe.
Published yesterday in Molecular Psychiatry, the first study found evidence that genes influence our ability to read and understand emotions in others. The team at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge analyzed data from 89,000 individuals worldwide, the majority of whom were 23andMe customers, who were willing to be researched.
Participants completed a “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test”, in which they were shown photos of the area around the eyes and asked to identify one of two possible emotions. This assessed Theory of Mind and the ability to recognize and appreciate another person’s mental state. Researchers identified that women with certain genetic variants（变异）on chromosome（染色体）3 performed better, with higher levels of empathy. Interestingly, male performance on the test was not associated with a genetic variant. Overall, women consistently performed better than men, exhibiting higher levels of empathy.
The genetic variant associated with empathy in women is near the gene LRRN1(Leucine Rich Neuronal 1) on chromosome 3, which is highly active in an area of the human brain. Brain scans have indicated that this section of the brain may play a role in cognition empathy.
This is also the unprecedented study that relates measures of empathy with variation in the human genome（基因组）. Previous research that has attempted to assess the genetic associations of personality and psychological traits has sometimes been unreliable, due to their small sample size. 23andMe’s large data offering enables scientists to gain insight into the biology behind features such as empathy.
23andMe is committed to furthering such research and approximately 85 percent of customers agrees to allow their de-identified（去识别的）data to be made available for study. By allowing scientists access to its unique and powerful research resource engine, 23andMe helps open up genetics to qualified researchers, providing novel insights into individuals’ features, genetic diseases and a variety of other conditions.
1.The research can help us have a better understanding of empathy which ________.
A. can assess personality and cognition. B. can provide insights into features, and diseases.
C. can be shaped by genetic variants. D. can play a key role in cognition and features.
2.What are findings of the research mainly based on?
A. Identification of the genetic variants of males and females.
B. Piles of data collected from 23andMe devoted to the research.
C. The researchers of the three universities and 23andMe.
D. Controlled experiments on genetic studies on chromosome 3.
3.The underlined word in Paragraph 5 can be best replaced by ________.
A. uncivilized B. unexpected C. unexampled D. undecided
4.The paragraph following the passage will most possibly talk about
A. the way 23andMe collects the data concerning the genetic research.
B. the way the data gathered from 23andMe are used for further studies.
C. the way scientists gain access to the research resource engine of 23andMe.
D. the way 23andMe takes a much closer look at the genetics of biology.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
-
My professor brother and I have an argument about head and heart, about whether he overvalues IQ while I lean more toward EQ. We commonly have this debate about people—can you be friends with a really smart jerk（怪物）?---but that also applies to animals as well .I’d love it if our dog could fetch the morning paper and then read it to me over coffee, but I actually care much more about her loyal and innocent heart. There’s already enough thinking going on in our house, and we probably spend too much time in our heads. Where we need some role modeling is in instinct, and that’s where a dog is a vivid example.
I did not grow up with dogs, which meant that my older daughter's respectful but firm determination to get one required some adjustment on my part. I often felt she was training me: from ages of 6 to 9, she gently schooled me in various breeds and their personalities, whispered to the dogs we met with so they would charm and persuade me, demonstrated by her self-discipline that she was ready for the responsibility. And thus came our dog Twist, whom I sometimes mistake for a third daughter.
At first I thought the challenge would be to train her to sit, to follow, to walk calmly beside us and not go wildly chasing the neighborhood rabbits. But I soon discovered how much more we had to learn from her than she from us.
If it is true, for example, that the secret to a child's success is less rare genius than raw persistence, Twist’s ability to stay on task is a model for us all, especially if the task is trying to capture the sunbeam that touches softly around the living room as the wind blows through the branches outside. She never succeeds, and she never gives up. This includes when she runs straight into walls.
Then there is her unfailing patience, which breaks down only when she senses that dinnertime was 15 minutes ago and we have somehow failed to notice. Even then she is more eager than annoyed, and her refusal to complain shows a self control of which I’m not always capable when hungry.
But the lesson I value most is the one in forgiveness, and Twist first offered this when she was still very young. When she was about 7 months old, we took her to the vet to be spayed（切除卵巢）. We turned her over to a stranger, who was to perform a procedure that was probably not pleasant. But when the vet returned her to us, weak and tender, there was no accusation, no How could you do that to me? It was as though she already knew that we would not intentionally cause her pain, and while she did not understand, she forgave and curled up with her head on my daughter’s lap.
I suppose we could have concluded that she was just blindly loyal and obedient. But eventually we knew better. She is entirely capable of disobedience, as she has proved many times. She will ignore us when there are more interesting things to look at, scold us when we are careless, bark into the twilight when she has urgent messages to send. But her patience with our failings and carelessness and her willingness to give us a second chance are a daily lesson in gratitude.
My friends who grow up with dogs tell me how when they were teenagers and trusted no one in the world, they could tell their dog all their secrets. It was the one friend who would not gossip or betray, could provide in the middle of the night the soft, unselfish comfort and peace that adolescence plots to disturb. An age that is all about growth and risk needs some anchors and weights, a stable model when all else is changing. Sometimes I think Twist’s devotion keeps my girls on a benevolent leash, one that hangs quietly at their side as they walk fast along but occasionally pulls them back to safety and solid ground.
We’ve weighed so many decisions so carefully in raising our daughters---what school to send them to and what church to attend, when to give them cell phones and with what precautions. But when it comes to what really shapes their character and binds our family, I never would have thought we would owe so much to its smallest member.
1.In the first paragraph, the author suggests that ________.
A. her professor brother cares too much about IQ
B. a dog is more than a pet and companion
C. a person can either have a high IQ or a low EQ
D. she prefers dogs that are clever and loyal
2.Why did the author’s family finally keep Twist?
A. The author thought it easy to train a dog to follow master's instructions.
B. The author agreed to keep a dog immediately her daughter asked for one.
C. The daughter decided to adopt a dog because of her sense of responsibility.
D. The daughter spare no efforts to persuade the author to raise a dog at home.
3.According to the passage, all the following are Twist's characteristics EXCEPT ________.
A. obedience B. patience C. forgiveness D. determination
4.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Twist and the girls have become friends.
B. Twist knows how to follow the girls.
C. Twist’s loyalty helps the girls grow up.
D. Twist is capable of looking after the girls.
5.What does the author try to express in the passage?
A. Desires for having cute pets. B. Attitudes to schooling and religion.
C. Thanks to Twist for her role. D. Values in raising her hila.
6.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. The bond of dogs and Man B. An model example--Twist
C. The growth of the dog-Twist D. Another daughter of my family
难度: 中等查看答案及解析