一、 wane v. 衰落；减弱；亏缺 n. 衰退；月亏
例句：As the night progressed, the moon's light began to wane.（随着夜晚的推移，月光开始变弱。）
二、balding adj. 变秃的；渐渐秃顶的
例句：The balding process was quite noticeable in his hairline.（他发际线处的脱发过程非常明显。）
三、 tally v. 计算；统计；清点 n. 记录；账；计数器
例句：They tally the inventory every month to keep track of stock.（他们每个月盘点库存以跟踪存货情况。）
四、zest n. 热情；兴趣；风味
例句：She added zest to the party with her lively personality.（她以活泼的个性为聚会增添了乐趣。）
五、 ramble v. 漫步；闲逛；漫谈
例句：His ramble through the city took him to many interesting places.（他在城市里漫步，去了很多有意思的地方。）
六、 opaque adj. 不透明的；难懂的
例句：The opaque material was used to make the privacy screen.（不透明的材料被用来制作隐私屏风。）
七、 jargon n. 行话；术语
例句：Legal jargon can make contracts difficult to understand for non - lawyers.（法律术语会让非律师很难理解合同。）
八、hatch v. 孵化；孵出
例句：The turtles hatch their eggs on the sandy beach.（海龟在沙滩上孵蛋。）
九、idle adj. 闲置的；空闲的；懒散的
例句：Idle machinery can cause a lot of waste.（闲置的机器会造成大量浪费。）
十、sabotage n. 破坏；蓄意破坏 v. 蓄意破坏；妨碍
例句：Protesters failed to sabotage the peace talks.（抗议者未能破坏和平谈判。）
Degradation of the world's natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet's ability to absorb the damagea recent UN environmental study has found.The study concludes that without radical action the level ofprosperity that millions of people in the developed world count on will be impossible to maintain or extend to poorer countries.
Water scarcity is the curse of some of the poorest regions on Earth,leaving developing countries increasingly unable to feed themselves,and causing hardship for millions of people.There appears little prospect of this desperate situation being remedied without radical action being taken.Water resources are under increasing threat from population growth,climate change ,rapid urbaniza-tion,rising levels of consumption,and the degradation of lands that previously provided a natural replenishment of water resources.
The rate ofdamage to the natural environment was found to increase globally,despite concerted efforts to persuade government to take measures to improve the condition.“If current trends continue,and the world fails to improve patterns of production and consumption,then the state of the world's environment will continue to decline,”warned UN executive director Achim Steiner.
He said the tools for improving the environment for millions of people existed in developed countries,but were in danger of not being used.
The study found that basic measures to tackle some of the key causes ofenvironmental damage were still not being taken.These included measures to reduce air pollution;to control the damage to marine ecosystems,which can have a huge effect on fish stocks on which hundreds of millions of people depend;and to curb the degradation of land where modem agricultural methods were pursued without regard to the longer-term consequences.
Despite the recent global agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions,global carbon output continues to rise.This will put a long-term strain on the ability of developing economies to feed their own people.Climate change is aggravated by the emissions of greenhouse gases from chemical and natural fertilisers used in agriculture which increased by more than a quarter between 2000 and 2010.Other problem areas identified in the report included glaciers,which provide vital water resources for millions of people,but which are shrinking as the climate warms.
In rich countries,these problems have built up over decades and centuries while economic growth was pursued at the expense of the environment.Subsequent efforts to remedy the environment have met with partial success.the path of future development has more potential to change,which has encourage dinternational institutions to devise more sustainable growth pathways that are supposed both to alleviate poverty and preserve the environment.
1.What is the major finding of the UN environmental study?
A.Human activity has rendered Mother Earth almost uninhabitable.
B.Humans are doing more damage to the earth than it can cope with.
C.Environmental problems have considerably weakened human prosperity.
D.Environmental damage is more serious in developed countries these days.
2.What is said about water scarcity in some of the poorest regions?
A.It is getting so seriousthat there is little hope of solution.
B.It largely accounts for their slow economic development.
C.It can hardly be relieved ifno drastic measures are taken.
D.It is primarily caused by the acceleration of climate change.
3.What does Achim Steiner say about the environmental condition?
A.It will deteriorate worldwide.
B.It is attracting global attention.
C.It is being slowly remedied globally.
D.It will shrink the world's population.
4.What is the dilemma developing countries face?
A.They cannot modernise farming without causing land degradation.
B.They cannot promote industrialisation without polluting waterways.
C.They cannot boost crop yields without causing greenhouse gas emissions.
D.They cannot catch up with rich countries without sacrificing the environment.
5.What should developing countries do in their future development according to the passage?
A.They turn to developed countries for the assistance they need.
B.They remedy environmental damage by slowing economic growth.
C.They avoid damaging interference from international institutions.
D.They improve people's livelihood without harming the environment.
一、青藏高原(the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau)位于中国西南部，面积约230万平方公里，平均海拔4000米以上，被称为“世界屋脊”。
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
二、青藏高原自然资源丰富，风景秀丽，拥有多种珍稀野生动物。青藏高原气温很低，形成了大面积高山冰川。
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
三、这里是亚洲许多著名河流的源头，是中 国和东南亚的主要淡水供应源。青藏高原对全球生态系统至关重要。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
四、由于气候变化的影响，青藏高原的冰川正在加速融化。中国一直在努力保护青藏高原 的生态系统，草地覆盖率不断增加，许多濒危物种得到更为有效的保护。
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CDABB阅读理解
1. C【定位】由题干中的largest population首先定位到第一段最后一句。
【精析】事实细节题。定位句提到，人口数量还是超过了70亿，令几乎所有其他哺乳动物相形见绌，可知人类的数量是最多的，随后一段对这种进化成功的原因提出问题，而回答这一问题的则是第三段第二句，该句说，进化成功的原因是我们的原始智慧赋予了我们前所未有的创造性思维能力，由此可知，人类之所以数量最多，是因为具有超出其他哺乳动物的思考能力，故答案为C。
【避错】选项A与定位句结尾处相悖，该句明确提到人类的体质并不强壮；B是利用第四段末句设置的干扰，根据该句句意“是模仿让人类有效应对外部挑战”,可知B并不是人类进化成功的根本原因，而是人类区别于动物的思维特征所带来的结果，故B答非所问；D项表意含糊，并没有说明具体原因，故也排除。
2.D【定位】由题干中的growing numberof cognitive scientist sandanth ropologists定位到第四段首句。
【精析】事实细节题。定位句指出，越来越多的认知科学家和人类学家拒绝接受这种传统的解释，而本段第三句则明确提出，人是通过仔细模仿其他人来应对具有挑战性的气候和生态环境的，故答案为D。
【避错】第四段第二句驳斥了创造性思维成就人类进化成功的看法，据此可排除选项A 和B;C项说法在文中完全没有依据，故也排除。
3.A【定位】由题干中的odd 和人名关键词定位到第六段。
【精析】事实细节题。定位段提到相关的研究过程，指出在该研究中，孩子们即使能够看出某些步骤没有实际的作用，但他们还是无理性地对实验人员演示的步骤进行模仿，故答案为A。
【避错】B是对第八段相关信息的曲解，原文说的是黑猩猩在盒子透明和不透明两种不同的情况下，会做出不同的模仿举动，而不是他们可以区别不同的盒子，故排除；原文未对黑猩猩和儿童取回零食的速度加以比较，故排除C;根据定位段，孩子们模仿每一个实验步骤，包括用棍子敲击盒子，并非“忽略”这一步骤，D与原文相悖。
4.B【定位】由题干中的人名Joseph Henrich定位到第十段第二、三句。
【精析】事实细节题。该段第一句对人类为何会过度模仿提出探究，定位句引用人类学家约瑟夫·亨里克的观点予以解释，人们无法理性地掌握其所依赖的复杂技术，必须一步一步地向长辈和同龄人学习，即完全模仿他人，可知选项B是人类无法实现理性模仿的根本原因，故为答案。
【避错】根据定位部分信息，人类信任长辈和同龄人的智慧以及进行模仿都是因为其无法理性地掌握复杂的技术，故A表达的不是原因，而是表象；根据原文表述，人类信任他人的智慧是事实需要，而非主动质疑自己的智慧，故C不符合原文；D 项信息在原文中并未提及，故排除。
5.B【定位】由题干中引用的“We're not chimpanzees”定位到文章最后一段最后一句。
【精析】推理判断题。要推断作者这句话的言外之意，需结合本段前半部分以及全文。本段第一句说，当你听到有人提出每个人都应该接受非常规思维，避免模仿别人时，你可以笑一笑，结合前文内容，模仿而非创新思维恰恰是人类成功的关键，而且是区别于诸如黑猩猩这类动物近亲的特征，由此可以推断，作者在此强调的是模仿才是人类的重要特征，故答案为B。
【避错】A是对最后一段首句的曲解，原句的意思是有人会争论，认为人们应该避免模仿，故排除；虽然上一段说到人类之所以模仿是因为其必须信任他们的智慧，但文章谈论的核心仍是模仿，而非对其做出的解释，C虽有干扰性，但未直击主题，故排除；D是根据定位段第一句的部分信息设置的干扰项,作者提到的laugh确有嘲笑之意，但其嘲笑和不赞成的是要求每个人都要有非常规思维、避免模仿的这种观点，而非嘲笑具有非常规思维的人，更谈不上对这种嘲笑行为进行评价，故排除D。
重点翻译
一、In recent years,China's cities have accele-rated their development and the urban living environment has been significantly improved.
二、Many cities have been making great efforts to explore the path of high-quality urban development with Chinese characteristics, resulting in continuous improvement of urban functions and a noticeable increase in the level of governance.
三、China continues to carry out urban ecological restoration and functional repair,fully implement the renovation of old urban neighborhoods,vigorously promote urban land-scaping to eliminate pollution.
四、At the same time,China vigorously promotes the systematic construction of urban infrastructure,carries out surveys of housing buildings and municipal facilities as well as the investigation and rectification of potential safety hazards,and strives to create a high-quality living environment for citizensand make the city more beautiful,safer and more livable.
预祝所有参加四六级考试的同学们顺利通过！
编辑 | 黎耀辉
责编 | 郑馨怡 包芳臣
审校 | 舒尔娜·吾其尔 张如
