研究生英语阅读Unit1课后答案

Unit 1
Environment
Learning Objectives
At the end of the unit, students will be able to:
1.have some general knowledge about the environment;
2.know about various kind of environmental problems;
3.talk about the causes, effects, and measures people should take about the
environmental problems;
4. master the key words and expressions concerning the environment.
Part I Warm-up Activities
A Directions:The following are some of the organizations devoted to the
environmental protection. Match them with the corresponding Chinese translations.
A. 联合国人类居住中心
B. 绿色和平组织
C. 国际环境情报网
D. 联合国环境规划署
E. 绿党
F. 联合国环境与发展大会
G. 国际自然和自然资源保护协会
1. United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) D 联合国环境规划署
2. International Environment Information System C 国际环境情报网
3. Green Peace Organization B 绿色和平组织
4. Green Party E 绿党
5. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
G 国际自然和自然资源保护协会
6. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
F 联合国环境与发展大会
7. United Nations Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS)
A 联合国人类居住中心
B Directions:Below are three pictures conveying the environmental problems. Join
a partner, talk about what specific environmental problems they are. Then discuss
about their causes, effects and the measures people have to take to deal with these problems.
1. What is the environmental phenomenon?
2. What causes this environmental phenomenon?
3. What are the effects of this environmental phenomenon?
4. How can the human do to improve this situation?
Part II Listening
1. Deforestation
A Directions: Listen to a report about deforestation over the past 10 years. Choose one item among A, B, C and D which best matches each of the following questions.
1)What is the main cause of deforestation? (C)
A.The cutting down of tropical trees for urban facilities.
B.The global warming.
C.The cutting down of tropical trees for agriculture.
D.The forest fires.
2)How much area of forest was cut down or lost through natural causes each year in
the last ten years? (C)
A.Over four billion hectares.
B. Sixteen million hectares.
C. Thirteen million hectares.
D. Seven million hectares.
3)Which of the following countries have reduced their deforestation rates? (D)
A. China and India.
B. Brazil and Vietnam.
C. China, India, Vietnam and America.
D. Brazil and Indonesia.
4)Which of the following areas have the highest yearly loss of forests during the last
ten years? (B)
A.North America and Central America.
B. Asia and Europe.
B.South America and Africa. D. South Africa and Asia.
5)According to Eduardo Rojas, what made the rate of deforestation decrease around
the world? (B)
A.Tree-planting programs.
B.Improvement of forest policies and regulations at local and international
levels.
C.The result of the International Year of Biodiversity.
D.The forest protection by the native people.
Tapescript
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says deforestation has decreased over the past ten years. But it still continues at a high rate in many countries. Deforestation is mainly caused by the cutting down of tropical forests to provide land for agriculture. The world's total forest area is just over four billion hectares. About thirteen million hectares of forest were cut down or lost through natural causes each year in the last ten years. This compares with about sixteen million hectares per year during the nineteen nineties.
The FAO study covers two hundred thirty-three countries and areas. The study found that Brazil and Indonesia have reduced their deforestation rates. The two countries had the highest loss of forests in the nineteen nineties. In addition, the study noted tree-planting programs in countries such as China, India, Vietnam and the United States. These programs, along with natural expansion of forests in some areas, have added more than seven million hectares of new forests each year.
South America and Africa had the highest yearly loss of forests during the last ten years. South America lost four million hectares. Africa lost almost three and a half million hectares. However, Asia gained more than two million hectares a year in the last decade. In North America and Central America, the forest area remained about the same. In Europe, it continued to expand, but at a slower rate than earlier. Eduardo Rojas is assistant director-general of F.A.O.’s Forestry Department. He said for the first time, the rate of deforestation has decreased around the world. This is the result of efforts taken at local and international levels. Mister Rojas said countries have improved their forest policies and legislation. They have also provided forests for use by local communities and native peoples and for the protection of biological diversity. He said this is a welcome message in two thousand ten – the International Year of Biodiversity.
However, Mister Rojas said the rate of deforestation is still very high in many areas. He said countries must strengthen their efforts to better protect and manage their forests.
2. Unknown Future Climate Change Effects
A Direction:In this section you will hear a report about the unknown long-term
effects of rising temperatures. Listen and check the words and phrases as you hear them.
√long-term effects
☐reproduce
☐potential disadvantages and consequences
√longer growing seasons
☐ a number of policies and regulations
√concentrates on the role of agriculture
☐climate change effects on industry
☐immigration
☐the depth of the planet
√temperature
√insect populations
B Directions：In this section you will hear a report about the unknown long-term
effects of rising temperatures. Listen and answer the following questions.
1) What are the BRICS countries?
They are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as well as the United States and Indonesia.
2）What did the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once say?
I know that I don’t know.
3) What did Nelson say that they need to do?
He said they needed to do a much better job of collecting data
4) Why do the changes on the surface of the planet seem beneficial at first glance?
Farmers see longer growing seasons and wetter springs.
5) What has recent research shown as the temperature increases get above 30 or 31 to 31 or 33?
Recent research has shown substantial drop-off in yields .
Tapescript
Scientists say many of the long-term effects of rising temperatures are still unknown. They're discussing the problem at the U.N. climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. Researchers say climate change is a complex mix of potential benefits and consequences, especially regarding food production.
In early November, researchers from several countries met in Beijing. They represented the so-called BRICS countries –Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as well as the United States and Indonesia. They discussed climate change and food security and agreed on a number of issues and recommendations to present to the Durban conference.
One of those researchers –Gerald Nelson –said they came up with a work program for climate change treaty negotiators. It concentrates on the role of agriculture.
Nelson is a senior fellow at IFPRI, the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute.
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates is quoted as saying, "I know that I don't know." Nelson said it's not that researchers don't know anything about climate change, it's just that they need to know a lot more.
"Our research results, our understanding of what's going on on the surface of the planet today, is really hindered by a lack of data. We just have very little information about the actual changes that are taking place on the planet. We are still groping, perhaps not in the complete dark, but with only very limited illumination, to understand those changes. And we need to do a much better job of collecting data about where things are changing and how they're changing," he said.
At first glance, some of the changes being seen appear to be beneficial, at least for now.
"Take for example, in Iowa, farmers there are seeing longer growing seasons. They're planting earlier in the year. They're seeing wetter springs, with more summer precipitation happening. If you take a look at China, you see that Heilongjiang Province, which used to have essentially no rice production, now accounts for 15 percent of China's rice production. In the northern parts of Russia, you're finding grain growing that was not possible to grow there 20 or 30 years ago," he said.
But what if global temperatures continue to rise? Would those apparent benefits continue? Maybe not.
"In the short run, they do seem to be positive," said Nelson, "That is, rice production further north because it's warmer potentially is a good thing for China. It's harder to sort out the climate signals as you get towards the middle of the planet. It's the northern extremes where you can see it earlier. But of course that's with the climate change we have so far."
Nelson says predictions call for substantially greater temperature increases. He says there's been about a one degree Celsius rise over the past 100 years. But the
forecast is for a two degree Celsius increase by 2050. Such an increase, he says, could have a dramatic effect on corn or maize.
Nelson and others at the Beijing meeting came up with a list of 12 climate change priorities. One of them warns that a rise in temperature can also mean a rise in pests that attack crops.
"For insects, in particular, as the temperatures rise then they reproduce more rapidly. So, instead of having three cycles of a pest per season you might end up with four or five. And that means more damage to the plants as they grow," he said.
And as temperatures rise, regions may lose killing frosts, which help limit insect populations. As for weeds, many are thriving in the richer CO2 or carbon dioxide environment.
Then there are ruminants, animals that produce lots of methane gas while digesting their food. Nelson says methane is much more powerful than CO2. More nations are expected to raise livestock for food as their lifestyles improve.
Other priority areas include soil ecosystems, irrigation, land use, biotechnology, food supply storage losses and training for researchers, farmers and others to better deal with climate change.
3. Carbon Footprints
A Directions: You will hear a passage about how to reduce our “carbon footprints”.
Listen and answer the following questions.
1) What is the average carbon footprint per person in the United Kingdom each
year?
Ten thousand kilograms.
2) What does domestic energy consumption include?
It includes both our gas and electricity
3）What does recycle mean?
Recycle means reuse things instead of easting them by just throwing them away.
B Directions:Listen to the passage again. Complete the summary.
Jackie Dalton and his colleagues intends to find out about how they can help the environment by changing the way they shop, travel and 1) use energy in their daily lives.
A “carbon footprint” is a technical term to 2) measure the degree of harm people cause to the environment. It is decided by how much “greenhouse gas emissions” we each produce. The average carbon footprint per person in the United Kingdom each year is 3) ten thousand kilograms. According to David Reay, the environment expert, we are seeing 4) rapid increases in greenhouse gas and will see rapid climate change and need more time to adapt and to get more time we need to reduce 5) the rate of emissions that we are producing. We can bring down our emissions by as much as 60% without 6) changing our lifestyle radically. For example, we can use the energy
saving light-bulbs, use more 7) public transport and use trains. Furthermore, John Barrett from the Stockholm Environment Institute lists the 8) domestic energy consumption as the main thing in our daily life that harms the environment. Tapescript
Jackie: Do you throw your bottles in the bin, drive a big heavy car, or leave the lights switched on when you go out? I’m Jackie Dalton and, as part of National Science Week in Britain, we are going to find out about how we can help the environment by changing the way we shop, travel and use energy in our daily lives: how we can reduce our “carbon footprints”. A “carbon footprint”is a measure of how much harm we cause to the environment in our everyday lives.
It depends on how much “greenhouse gas emissions”we each produce.
Greenhouse gases are gasses which have a warming effect on the Earth’s surface, causing what we call the “greenhouse effect”and climate change –changes in the general weather conditions. The average carbon footprint per person in the United Kingdom each year is ten thousand kilograms! What can we do to reduce this? As we find out, we’ll also practise some helpful expressions we can use when talking about the environment. We’ve heard a few already. Just as a reminder, they were:
Voice: greenhouse gas emissions
the greenhouse effect
climate change
Jackie: We’re about to hear from environment expert, David Reay. Why does he think we need to reduce our carbon footprints?
David: At the moment we’re seeing rapid increases in greenhouse gas. So we’ll see very rapid climate change and we need more time to adapt and to get more time we need to reduce the rate of emissions that we’re producing. So, really,
each of us can play a role in giving us a bit more time.
Jackie: Well, he says greenhouse gas emissions have gone up which means the climate will change quickly. And we need more time to adapt. To change the
way we behave. So what are the main things in our daily lives that are
harming the environment? John Barrett from the Stockholm Environment
Institute is about to list three. What are they?
John: Domestic energy consumption – that includes both our gas and electricity. Our transport use - again, combining air travel and our car travel… car travel at the moment being by far the most significant, although air travel is increasing rapidly. And, also, our food consumption…the distance our food has to travel, techniques, methods required to provide us with our food.
Jackie: Did you get the answer? The three things were domestic energy consumption, which means the energy we use at home when we do things like watch television. The second was transport. And thirdly, food. Here in the UK, we drink bottled water from Canada, eat apples flown in from New Zealand and beans from Kenya…when w e can get all of these things here anyway! What a waste of energy! But we can make a difference. Two questions now: by how
much could each of us cut down our carbon footprints? And would we have to make a big change to the way we live our lives? Weekender © BBC Learning English
David: There’s a lot we can do, lots of these small things to bring down our emissions significantly, so 60% is the figure which is the possibility for most people, without changing their lifestyle radically, the small things - the energy saving light-bulbs, using more public transport, using trains. These things can really make a big difference.
Jackie: The answers to the questions are David thinks we can cut down out emissions by as much as 60%. We can do this without radical changes to our lifestyle –we would only have to make small changes in the way we live. So how much effort are people making already to reduce their carbon footprints? Do many ‘recycle’ which means re-use things instead of wasting them by just throwing them away? Listen to these people telling us what they do to help the environment.
Insert
(‘What I do to help the environment.’)
Jackie: Well, if you want to measure your own carbon footprints and find out how you can make a difference, you can always go to the links at the bottom of our webpage. Meanwhile, don’t forget to turn off your lights when you don’t need them on, recycle your bottles and next time you’re about to switch on the TV, ask yourself whether you wouldn’t just rather go for a walk instead!
4. Hybrid Cars
A Directions:You will hear a passage about an introduction to hybrid cars. While
listening for the first time, write down some key words in the notes column.
B Directions:Listen to the passage again and decide whether the following
statements are true or false.
1) By hybrid cars, we mean the cars are mixes between cars which are powered by petrol and cars which are powered by electricity. ( T ) 2) You need to recharge a hybrid car every day by plugging it into an electrical outlet.
( F ) 3) Hybrid cars typically emit half the polluting particles of a regular car.
( T ) 4) Fuel economy is a term which means how much fuel you can save on one liter or gallon of petrol. ( F ) 5) Hybrid cars are cheaper compared with all-gas counterparts in terms of the cars themselves, repairing, etc. ( F ) Tapescript
The word hybrid means a mixture of two ‘species’. For example, it’s possible to breed a tiger and a lion, and the resulting offspring isn’t 100% tiger and isn’t 100% lion –it’s a hybrid, a mix between the two animals. When we talk about cars being hybrid, we mean they are mixes between cars which are powered by petrol and cars which are powered by electricity.
Most vehicles are, technically, hybrids, as they have batteries which are responsible for starting the car and powering headlights and other accessories. Many bus systems use hybrid technology – they may be partly powered by petrol, and partly powered by overhead electrical lines. However, we tend to use the term hybrid today not to mean these types of vehicles, but rather a car which uses a battery (that is, electricity) t o keep the engine going so that it doesn’t need to use as much petrol as other cars.
Many people think that you need to recharge a hybrid car every day by plugging it into an electrical outlet. This is not true –in fact the battery is automatically recharged when you use the car.It’s a bit complicated, but basically, the car takes the energy generated when you use the brakes and adds it to the battery. I will mention, however, that some car manufacturers are now adding this as an option – Owners of some models can plug in their car overnight and run on only electricity for short trips.
So what are some arguments in favor of hybrids? Well, first of all, people today are interested in the environment, talk about the environment, are concerned about the environment, and want to view themselves as part of the solution, not part of the problem. Probably the most popular reason to buy hybrid cars is that it says something about your attitude towards environmental concerns. A driver of a hybrid car is advertising his or her concern for the environment and is signaling that he or she is doing their part to solve the problem of air pollution.
Of course, hybrid cars do help reduce air pollution. Hybrid cars typically emit half the polluting particles of a regular car. Of course, we should note that electric cars, cars which run only on electricity, emit no polluting particles, and are therefore
much more environmentally friendly than hybrids.
Another reason might be overall cost. Hybrid cars have better fuel economy than regular petrol-powered cars. Fuel economy is a term which means, basically, how far you can go on one liter or gallon of petrol. If you can go farther with less petrol, you will save money in the long run. This is very important to some consumers due to rising petrol costs.
Some governments subsidize this technology, that is, they support the development of the technology by giving consumers extra incentive to buy hybrid cars. For example, in some countries, you do not have to pay as much tax on the purchase of a hybrid car as you would have to on a regular car. This is generally called a tax break and is another reason why a cost-conscious consumer might buy a hybrid car.
What are the downsides, then? Well, first of all, there is a general perception of hybrid cars as being less powerful than ordinary cars. It’s true that you will generally not get the same power out of a hybrid, so if you are one of those people who like driving fast, you may not enjoy driving a hybrid.
The second thing most people bring up as a disadvantage is the price. Hybrids are pricey. In general, they are about 20 percent more expensive than their all-gas counterparts. There are signs that this will change in the future – that hybrids will become less expensive with time, but for t he moment, you’ll have to be prepared to pay more. In addition to this, getting your hybrid repaired, if it needs repairing, will be more of a hassle and more expensive as there are relatively few mechanics out there who can handle hybrid repairs. Replacement parts may not be as easy to obtain, further driving up the cost and time of repair.
Part III Watching
Direction: The extract is taken from the documentary “Home”. Watch the video and answer the questions.
1) Why is methane compared to a climatic time bomb?
Because methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
2)What will happen if the permafrost melts?
If the permafrost melts, the methane underground will emit and the greenhouse effect will be out of control with consequences no one can predict.
Audioscript
Here in Siberia and elsewhere across the globe, it is so cold that the ground is constantly frozen. It’s known as permafrost. Under its surface lies a climatic time bomb: methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
If the permafrost melts, the methane released would cause the greenhouse effect to race out of control, with consequences no one can predict. We would literally be in
unknown territory. Humanity has no more than 10 years to reverse the trend and avoid crossing into this territory?
Life on Earth as we have never known it. We have created phenomena we cannot control. Since our origins, water, air and forms of life are intimately linked. But recently, we have broken those links. Let’s face the facts. We must believe what we know. All that we have just seen is a reflection of human behavior. We have shaped the Earth in our image. We have very little time to change. How can this century carry the burden of nine billion human beings... if we refuse to be called to account for everything we alone have done?
Part IV Oral Practice
Role Play: An interview on TV
Directions: You are interviewing an official with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as a host (hostess) at a local TV station. You put forward several questions concerning the environmental protection and methods different nations adopt to protect the earth.
Possible questions for the host (hostess)
—What do you think are the biggest problems facing the environment?
—Do you think that global warming is caused by humans or part of the natural cycle of the earth?
—Have any countries implemented any initiatives or policies to protect the environment, such as recycling, litter laws, etc.? Have they made any effects? —What do you think is more responsible for pollution, individual people or the government?
—What do you think about the potential of alternative energy sources or renewable energy such as solar power, wind power and wave power?
—Do you think overpopulation is an important issue?
—What do you think of environmental groups like Greenspace?
—According to a report, China’s investment in renewable energy grew 18% in 2007 to $15.6 billion, accounting for 10% of the global investment in this area. What do you think of this?
—What can every individual do to protect our environment?
Enrichment Reading (略)。