Countries are failing to take the action needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change, a UN climate report has found, and the commitments made in the 2015 Paris agreement will not be met unless governments introduce additional measures as a matter of urgency.
New taxes on fossil fuels, investment in clean technology and much stronger government policies to bring down emissions are likely to be necessary. Governments must also stop subsidizing (补贴) fossil fuels, directly and indirectly, the report said.
Greenhouse gas emissions continued their long-term rise last year, according to the report, but they could be brought under control. There are promising signs, such as investment from the private sector in renewable energy and other technologies to cut carbon, but these are currently insufficient to meet scientific advice.
Global emissions have reached what the UN has called "historic levels" of 53.5 gigatonnes(十亿吨) of carbon dioxide equivalent, and are showing no signs of peaking, despite a leveling off in the past decade.
Joyce Msuya, deputy executive director of UN Environment, said: "The science is clear: for all the ambitious climate action we've seen, governments need to move faster and with greater urgency. We're feeding this fire, while the means to extinguish it are within reach. "
Last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) warned of the dire effects of allowing global warming to reach 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. The world has a little over a decade to bring down greenhouse gas emissions before such dangerous levels of warming become inevitable.
Only 57 countries, representing 60%of global greenhouse gas emissions, are on track to cause their emissions to peak before 2030.If emissions are allowed to rise beyond that, the IPCC has said countries are likely to breach the 1.5℃ limit, which will trigger sea-level rises, droughts, floods and other extreme weather events.
According to the Paris agreement, the first global pact to bind both developed and developing countries to a specific temperature goal, governments must do all they can to stop warming reaching 2℃ above pre-industrial levels, with an aspiration to limit warming to no more than 1.5℃.
Jian Liu, the chief scientist at UN Environment, said some of the necessary policies were clear and available, if there was political will to implement them. "When governments embrace fiscal(财政的) policy measures to subsidize low-carbon alternatives and tax fossil fuels, they can stimulate the right investments in the energy sector and significantly reduce carbon emissions. If all fossil fuel subsidies were phased out, global carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 10% by 2030."
1.Which of the following ideas is NOT included in the UN climate report?
A.Governments should stop their subsidy to the coal and petroleum industry.
B.The efforts made by the government showed some promising signs.
C.Man has been breaking the historical records of global emissions.
D.There is still hope for us to control Greenhouse gas emission.
2.How do you interpret the underlined sentence in paragraph 5?
A.The situation is dangerous and we need to do something to bring it under control.
B.Immediate fire-fighting measures should be taken to keep the fire under control.
C.We are making climate efforts but the achieved effects can be easily reversed.
D.To reduce emissions, we need to close down the fossil-fuel-powered plants.
3.Which of the following statements is True according to the Paris agreement?
A.It is desirable for humanity to limit the temperature rise within 1.5℃.
B.Countries need to control the temperature rise within 2℃ above prehistoric level.
C.Developed and developing countries are bound by their own temperature goals.
D.Disastrous climate change will be irrecoverable if we exceed the 1.5℃ limit.
4.What does the word "dire" mean in paragraph 6?
A.upcoming B.hazardous
C.crucial D.convincing
5.What's the primary purpose of this article?
A.To show a huge gap between words and deeds in fighting global warning.
B.To present a clear picture of how Paris agreement is implemented.
C.To appeal for further global commitment to avoid disastrous climate.
D.To warn of worsening climate caused by lack of combined human effort.
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Westley said to me in a whisper: "God damn! I'm tired of sitting here. Let's get up and be saved." So he got up and was saved.
Then I was left alone on the mourners' bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs circled, all around me in the little church. The whole room prayed for me alone. And I kept waiting quietly for Jesus, waiting, waiting-but he didn't come. I want to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing!
"Langston, why don't you come? Why don't you come and be saved? Oh. Lamb of God! Why don't you come?"
Now it was really getting late. I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long. I began to wonder what God thought about Westley, who certainly hadn't seen Jesus either, but who was now sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his legs and grinning down at me, surrounded by deacons(教堂执事) and old women on their knees praying. God had not struck Westley dead for lying in the temple. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved. So I got up.
Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting, as they saw me rise. Waves of rejoicing swept he place. Women leaped in the air. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister(牧师) took me by the hand and led me to the platform.
When things quieted down, in a hushed silence, interrupted by a few joyous "Amens," all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God. Then happy singing filled the room.
That night, for the last time in my life but one-for I was a big boy twelve years old-I cried. I cried in bed alone, and couldn't stop. I buried my head under the quilts, but my aunt heard me. She woke up and old my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, but I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus any more, since he didn't come to help me.
1.I attended a special ceremony ________.
A.to be saved by Jesus and blessed B.to become a member of the church
C.to celebrate the appearance of Jesus D.to be given judgment for my sin
2.________, I got up at last.
A.Afraid of being struck dead by God
B.Eager to join Westley sitting on the platform
C.Ashamed of delaying the coming of God
D.Guilty of causing trouble to all the others
3.What can be inferred about the new young lambs in the service?
A.There were all saved by the God.
B.They all committed a sin.
C.They all saw Jesus except Westley and me.
D.They all deserved God's blessing.
4.I cried that night because I was ________.
A.forced to accept a merciless God
B.conscience-stricken at cheating before God
C.more a saved lamb than a liar
D.deprived of my belief in the existence of Jesus
Technological life is and will be a series of upgrades and the rate of advancement is increasing. If we are honest, we must admit that one aspect of the ______ upgrades and eternal becoming of the technium (技术元素) is to make holes in our heart. One day not too long ago we（all of us）decided that we could not live another day ______ we had a smart phone; a dozen years earlier this need would have ______ us. Now we get angry if the network is slow, but before, when we were ______ , we had no thoughts of the network at all. We keep inventing new things that make new ______ , new holes that must be filled.
Some people are furious that our hearts are pierced (刺穿) ______ by the things we make. They see this ever-neediness as a devaluing of human nobility, the source of our ______ discontent. I agree that technology is the source. The momentum of technologies pushes us to chase the ______ , which are always disappearing beneath the arrival of the next newer thing, so satisfaction continues to retreat from our ______ .
But I celebrate the never-ending discontent that technology brings. We are different from our animal ancestors in that we are not ______ to merely survive, but have been incredibly busy ______ new itches that we have to scratch, new desires we've never had before. This is the trigger for our ingenuity and growth.
We cannot expand our self, and our collective self, ______ making holes in our heart. We are ______ our boundaries and widening the small container that holds our identity. It can be painful. Of course, there will be rips and tears. Late-night infomercials (信息广告) and endless web pages of about-to-be-out-of-date gizmos(新玩意儿)are hardly uplifting techniques, and the path to our ______ is very boring, and everyday. When we imagine a better future, we should factor in this constant ______ .
1.A.ceaseless B.effortless C.meaningless D.regardless
2.A.whether B.once C.while D.unless
3.A.dismayed B.astonished C.delighted D.bothered
4.A.tactless B.humble C.innocent D.suspicious
5.A.longings B.findings C.understanding D.warnings
6.A.thus B.yet C.even D.rather
7.A.half-hearted B.continual C.peculiar D.social
8.A.wildest B.latter C.newest D.utmost
9.A.grasp B.era C.sight D.share
10.A.allowed B.content C.privileged D.spontaneous
11.A.wrapping up B.smoothing over C.carrying out D.making up
12.A.through B.against C.without D.despite
13.A.defining B.stretching C.overstepping D.marking
14.A.enlargement B.formation C.sensation D.pleasure
15.A.demand B.tolerance C.companion D.discomfort
Which of the following sentence have "save" of the same meaning as that in "The grownups, less excitable, save their own presents till breakfast time."
A.I had a bottle of champagne which I'd been saving for a special occasion.
B.Your eves don't water with fresh air, which saves you a lot in paper tissues.
C.If you lent me £5, it would save me a trip to the bank.
D.Safety may mean more time and trouble but it may save a lot of heartbreak in the home.
The development of pills often owe ________ to science-we started with a drug that we hoped would be effective in heart disease and we ended up with a medicine that was highly effective against nerve disorder.
A.much chance B.much chance as C.much to chance as D.as much to chance as
