【任务10：请宿主在6h内完成本次阅读真题，并保证正答率高于60%。任务奖励：200积分。】
This man is running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days
A) Michael Wardian pushed forward into the prating （渗透的）arctic (北极的) wind, fighting the urge to speed up. Too much effort and he''d begin to sweat, which, he was told, would only increase the risk of hypothermia(体温过低).
B)At the 2014 North Pole Marathon, the temperature dipped to minus-22 degrees F, with a
wind chill that made it feel even colder. Along the route, armed guards wandered the
large sheets of floating ice to minimize the risk of polar bear attacks.
C) “I like to do stuff that scares me,”Wardian said. With ice frozen to his beard, Wardian
crossed the finish line that April afternoon in a winning time of 4 hours 7 minutes and40seconds, almost two hours slower than his personal best over 26.2 miles. The race for Wardian, however, was less about the result than oveing his aversion （厌恶）to the cold.
D) In a few days, Wardian will once againpete in an unfamiliar territory and
below-freezing temperatures. He will line up Monday in Antarctica(南极) for the first leg of the World Marathon Challenge-joining 32 other adventure seekers on an unusual journey where participants travel through different time zones and climates to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
E) An elite ultra-runner, Wardian has his sights on breaking the event’s record average
marathon time of 3:32:25 set last January by U.S.Marine Corps captain Daniel Cartica Wardian, a 42-year-old Arlington resident, is a record-breaking racer, known in the ultra-runningmunity for seeking tough courses and setting world records. Last year, he ran 1,254.65 miles in 47 races. The World Marathon Challenge, like most of Wardian’s running goals, will be about pushing his limits. “I love diverse and unique challenges," he said. “I''m definitely interested in seeing what I can handle and what my body can accept. That drives me.”
F) Something about the wayRichard Donovan carried himself appealed to Wardian.Perhaps it was the sense of adventure Donovan displayed when they first met at the2010 50K Championships in Galway, Ireland, where Donovan was the race director. The two hit it off, and soon Wardian was participating in Donovan''s events. It was at the North Pole Marathon, a race that Donovananizes, that Wardian first heard about the Irishman’s plan for the World Marathon Challenge--a challengethat Donovan himselfpleted in2009 and 2012. “I knew that many people had a goal of running seven marathons on seven continents during any time period,” Donovan, 50, said. “I felt the natural extension （延伸）to this idea would be to try to achieve it within a seven-day period."
G) Wardian started saving for the trip in 2014, connecting with sponsors and getting
approval from his wife, Jennifer, beforemitting.Registration for the event costs36,000 euros, which covers international charter flights（包机） to each of the seven marathon locations: Union Glacier(Antarctica),Punta Arenas,Chile(South America),Miami(North America), Madrid (Europe),Marrakesh,Morocco (Africa), Dubai (Asia) and Sydney (Australia). The challenge is a test of both physical strength and mental fitness. Sleeping on a crammed plane, adjusting to different time zones and finding food to eat(Wardian is a vegetarian) would make it an exhausting trip over a month, let alone a week. “The key to a race like this is gettingfortable being ufortable," said Becca Pizzi, last year’s women''s champion. “The highs of the race are incredibly high, and the lows incredibly low."
H) Since turning it into ananized event in 2015, Donovan has attracted a variety of runners. This year''s challenge will feature a far more elite field, which includes Ryan Hall, America''s fastest marathon runner. Despite his proven track record, Hall said he has no time goals and that he still suffers from the same fatigue issues that forced him to leave the professional ranks in 2015.Hall plans to run with his friend, Pastor Matthew Bat of The Dream Center in Los Angeles-one of the six American men who will bepeting. “I don''t expect to run a step with Mike, but I will be excited to see how he does," said the 34-year-old Hall, who began weight-lifting after retiring. “If I finish within an hour of him in each marathon, I''d be surprised."
I) Instead, 43-year-old Petr Vabrousek, an elite Czech Ironman champion, is expected to be Wardian''s closest challenger. To others on the trip, simply finishing will be its own reward. Sinead Kane of Ireland is aiming to be the first blind person toplete the challenge. And Beth Ann Telford, a 47-year-old federal government worker from Fairfax and the only American female in this year''s mix, is using the event as a platform to raise money for cancer research. It''s a cause with a personal connection to Telford, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2004.“Doing something like this is definitely the hardest challenge that I''ve ever done except for the chemotherapy（化学疗法） and brain surgery," she said.“It''s going to raise awareness ... I just wanted to do something that is epic and this certainly is right up there."Wardian, too, hopes his involvement （包含）will give him a platform to promote a cause. He recently became an ambassador for the United Nations Women''s HeForShe initiative to fight inequalities faced by women and girls worldwide.
J) On a chilly December afternoon,Wardian wove through Washington''s crowded
sidewalks on the way home from his full-time job as an international ship broker（经纪人）. His elastic, 6-foot frame bounced gently and efficiently off the ground with each step of the hilly six-mile trip back to Arlington. This is a daily routine during the week for Wardian, who started racing professionally in 2003 and runs seven days a week, often multiple times a day. When he travels, he prefers to explore new places on his feet.
K) But in some ways, Wardian still has trouble thinking of himself as a runner. For the
majority of his childhood, Wardian devoted his energy to bing a Division I lacrosse (长曲棍球) player-a dream he realized when he was recruited （录取）to play at Michigan State University. “Once he decides to do something, he just works at it until he does it,” Michael''s younger sister, Mariele, said. “Once he decides to do it, it''s usually something that''s going to happen. He''s always been like that. He''s a very motivated individual.”
L) It was only a year or so ago that Wardian realized that he had been a runner longer than
a lacrosse player. It was not until he ran in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials--the first of three for Wardian--that he felt that he was a legitimate （合格的）runner. Now more than10 years and numerous ultra-marathon national titles and world records later, he embraces that identity. Wardian wants to see how far his legs can take him, one epic challenge at a time. “I want to always keep doing things that are exciting, adventurous, different and most importantly, probably things I''m not the best at,”Wardian said,“because if you''re not seeking things out that are challenging and difficult for you, then you''re not growing... So I hope maybe people see what I do, and say, ‘Okay, I want to do something different or try something new... I''m going to do something that scares me.’ That''s what I’m hoping people will take from it."
36. Wardian regards the various extraordinary challenges as a test of his physical endurance.
37. Wardian hopes his participation in the seven-day marathon series will contribute to a worthy cause.
38. Wardian is going to join over thirty other runners in a week-long marathon series.
39. Over-exertion （过度劳累）in extreme cold can lower one''s body temperature to a dangerous point.
40. Wardian was very much impressed by a race director ’s sense of adventure.
41. Once Wardian sets his mind on something, he is determined to make it happen.
42.One top American marathoner quit his running career because of his physical condition.43. To many of the week-long marathon participants,pleting the race will be a success
in itself.
44.For Wardian, the marathon in the Arctic was more about how to triumph over the
extreme cold.
45. To participate in the seven-day marathon series, Wardian had to raise a lot of money and have his wife''s support.
Many people associate their self-worth with their work. The more successful their career, the better they feel about themselves. Work-related self-esteem is therefore a worthy ideal to pursue with vigor, right? Well, not always. According to recent research, in which psychologists interviewed 370 full-time workers over a period of three weeks, the reality is a little moreplicated. And it involves negative as well as positive consequences.
It''s natural to be drawn towards pleasure and to step away from pain. In the workplace, if that pleasurees from a triumph（胜利） which swells our self-respect, people will try to repeat the aplishment. But repeating that aplishment is often not realistic, which can lead to severe negative emotional consequences when it doesn''t reoccur（重新发生）. This form of motivation is widely regarded as a negative type of motivation. It can hinder other more positive motivation types, such aspleting a task purely because it''s fulfilling or enjoyable.
What consumes the employee instead is a pressing need to feel mighty and sure of themselves. They then take on only tasks and objectives which serve that ego-driven（自我内驱力） need. As a result, to avoid feelings of shame and worthlessness associated with failure, they extend themselves to such a degree that there''s a subsequent adverse effect on their well-being. This internal pressure to succeed at all costs demands a lot of effort. It depletes their energy, culminating in disproportionate levels of damaging sentiment.
Those negative emotions mount into heightened anxiety, impacting their ability to make the most of their personal life. Their desire to avoid feeling inferior ends up making them feel inferior when ites to their diminished capacity for friendship and leisure. They end up dissatisfied both at work and outside of it.
But thankfully, for those peoplepelled （迫使） almost entirely by this specific form of motivation, the news isn''t all bad, or bad at all. The study also discovered several positive oues that can actually outweigh the harmful ones. Though these types of employees are motivated by the desire to avoid negative consequences, they are also motivated by the excitement of pursuing emotional rewards. This excitement makes pursuing goals enjoyable and stimulates pleasure and pride that would result from success. An effect of the positive motivation is that it neutralizes the existence of negative motivation.
Sure, it affects people''s personal lives to what could be deemed an unhealthy extent, because leisure activities are often seen as a part of life that must be sacrificed to manage work and family demands. However, the way people feel about their work has less to do with whether they''re motivated by the preservation of self-esteem but more with the fact that they ''re simply motivated.
46. What does the author say about the pursuit of work-related self-esteem?
A) It may result in negative motivation.
B) It contributes to one''s aplishments.
C) It can increase one’s vigor as one keeps trying.
D) It costs too much emotionally and psychologically.
47. What do employees tend to do in pursuing work-related self-esteem?
A) Take on tasks well beyond their actual capabilities.
B) Strive to succeed at the expense of their well-being.
C) Resort（凭借） to all means regardless of the consequences.
D) Exaggerate their sense of shame and worthlessness.
48. What do we learn about people over-concerned with work-related self-esteem?
A) They may often feel inferior（差的 ） to their colleagues.
B) They cannot enjoy their personal life to the full.
C) They are never satisfied with their achievements.
D) They have their own view of friendship and leisure.
49.What is the good news we learn from the recent research?
A) The pursuit of goals may turn out to be enjoyable and pleasant.
B) The emotional rewards from goal pursuit are worth the pains taken.
C) The negative consequences of goal pursuit can mostly be avoided.
D) The goal of swelling self-esteem can be achieved if one keeps trying.
50.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A) Workers have to make sacrifices to preserve self-esteem.
B) Self-esteem swells（膨胀） when workers are strongly motivated.
C) Pursuit of goals affects people''s personal lives to an unhealthy extent.
D) People feel positive about their work as long as they are motivated.
ABBAD
Degradation（退化） of the world''s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing （超过）the pl''s ability to absorb the damage, a recent UN environmental study has found. The study concludes that without radical（根本的） action the level of prosperity （兴旺）that millions of people in the developed world（发达国家） count on will be impossible to maintain or extend to poorer countries.
Water scarcity（短缺） 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 （危急的 ）situation being remedied without radical action being taken. Water resources are under increasing threat from population growth, climate change, rapid urbanization, rising levels of consumption, and the degradation of lands that previously provided a natural replenishment (补充) of water resources.
The rate of damage 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 of environmental damage were still not being taken. These included measures to reduce air pollution; to control the damage to marine eco-systems, 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（恶化 ）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 （补救 ）the environment have met with partial success. But in developing countries, the path of future development has more potential to change, which has encouraged international institutions to devise more sustainable growth pathways（途径） that are supposed both to alleviate poverty and preserve the environment.
51. What is the major finding of the UN environmental study?
A) Human activity has rendered Mother Earth almost uninhabitable.（不宜居住的 ）
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.
52. What is said about water scarcity（缺乏） in some of the poorest regions?
A) It is getting so serious that there is little hope of solution.
B) It largely accounts for their slow economic development.
C) It can hardly be relieved if no drastic measures are taken.
D) It is primarily caused by the acceleration of climate change.
53. 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.
54.What is the dilemma（困境） 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.
55. 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（干涉） from international institutions.
D) They improve people''s livelihood without harming the environment.
BCACD
Fear of Nature: An Emerging Threat to Conservation
A) What do we lose when natural spaces and species disappear? Increasingly, research has shown that as species and ecosystems vanish, it also chips away at our ability to preserve what remains-because we no longer understand what we''re losing.
B)You probably see it all the time. The neighbor who puts pesticides （杀虫剂）on his lawn rather than deal with annoying bees. The politician who votes against wildlife protection because she''s never seen a wolf in the wild. The corporation that wants to bulldoze (用推土机推平) the habitat of a rare frog.
C) At best this can be termed （称作）“the extinction （灭绝 ）of experience,” where our cultural and natural histories fade from our memories and therefore our reality. At its worst it bes something even more concerning: “biophobia,（生物恐惧症 ）”the fear of living things and aplete aversion （厌恶）to nature.
D) This isn''t the fiction（虚构的） of living in a cold, empty dystopia(绝望的世界). Sadly, it''s
bing a way of life for too many people especially children. A recent study in Japan paints a striking（引人注目的） portrait（画像） of this problem. A survey of more than 5,300 school children in the Tochigi Prefecture examined their perception of 14 local insect species and one spider. The results? A collective “ew!” Most of the students saw the species as things to dislike or fear, or even as sources of danger. The less experience the students had with nature, the more negative their feelings.
E) The results were published earlier this year in the journal Biological Conservation Lead researcher Masashi Soga with the University of Tokyo says the study stemmed（起源于） from observations about today''s nature-deficient children. “Humans inherently （内在的）avoid dangerousanisms such as bees, but children these days avoid even harmless insects such as butterflies and dragonflies (蜻蜓),” he says. “I have long wondered why so many of today''s children react like this.”
F) Although the children''s reactions were somewhat expected, the new study did contain an unexpected finding: Many of the surveyed children revealed that their parents（父母亲的） also expressed fear or disgust （厌恶 ）of the same animals. In fact these parental emotions were strong enough to overwhelm any positive experiences the children might have gained from direct experiences in nature. As Soga and his coauthors（合著者） wrote in their paper,“Our results suggest that there is likely a feedback（反馈) loop（循环） in which an increase in people whc have negative attitudes towards nature in one generation will lead to a further increase in people with similar attitudes in the next generation."
G) And that’s possibly the greater threat posed by extinction of experience. Soga suggests the generational loss（代际丧失）--a condition previously dubbed environmental generational amnesia (遗忘)-could chip away at our societal ability to preserve what we''re losing“I believe that increased biophobia is a major, but invisible（无形的）, threat to global biodiversity," Soga says. “As the number of children who have biophobia increases, public interest and support for biodiversity conservation will gradually decline Although many conservation biologists still consider that preventing the loss of wildlife habitat is the most important way to conserve biodiversity, I think preventing increased biophobia is also important for conservation."
H) What''s to be done about this? The paper makes several rmendations, the most
obvious of which is that children should experience nature more often. The authors also suggest establishing policies to guide these natural experiences and increasing educational programs about the natural world.Helping parents to see species around them in a new light would make a difference, too. And, of course, maintaining support for preserving the wild spaces where these “scary’ creatures live is the most important thing of all. That''s a point reinforced（强化） by another recent study, which found that wild spaces located within urban areas-and the plants and animals that thrive in them-are particularly important for human health and well-being
J) Published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, the study examined attitudes toward Discovery Park, the heavily forested 534-acre public park in Seattle, Washington. It found that the public had the most appreciation for--and gained the most value from-the wildest parts of the park. “I have seen whales, seals, fish, eagles, shorebirds and many other sea creatures in their natural habitat," one survey participant wrote. ing here with people has allowed me to connect and talk with them about conversation that simply does not happen in everyday life,” wrote another
K) The participants reported that their most valuable experiences in the park included encountering wildlife, walking through open spaces, exploring the beach and finding beautiful views. “We saw that a large majority of participants’interactions, especially their most meaningful interactions, depended on Discovery Park’s relative wildness," says lead author Elizabeth Lev, a master''s student in the University of Washington''s Human Interaction with Nature Lab. This is only possible because the park is relatively wild. After all, you can''t enjoy watching birds if there are no birds to follow; gaze at the sunset if it''s obscured by skyscrapers（摩天大楼）; or stop and smell the flowers if they don''t have room to grow.
L)And yet even this long-protected space could someday be less hospitable to nature Over the past few years a lot of people andanizations have suggested developing parts of Discovery Park or the neighboring area. Most recently a plan proposed building34 acres of much-needed affordable housing and parking spaces adjacent to the park bringing with them noise, traffic and pollution
M) If anything like that happened, both the park and the people of Seattle could lose something vital. And that would continue the trend of chipping away at Seattle''s--and the world''s--natural spaces, leaving just tiny pocket parks and green-but-empty spaces that offer little real value to wildlife, plants or people.
N)“It is true that any interaction with nature is better than none, but I don''t want people to be satisfied with any small bit of grass and trees," Lev says. “We have been in this cycle of environmental generational amnesia for a long time, where the baseline keeps shifting and we don''t even realize what we''re losing until it''s gone. If we can get people to understand how much meaning and value cane from having more experiences with more wild forms of nature, then maybe we can stop this cycle and move toward conserving and restoring what we have left."
O) Building this understanding in an ever-more fearful and disconnected （脱节的）world may be the biggest challenge. Peter Kahn, the senior author of Lev''s paper and the director of the Human Interaction with Nature lab, made several suggestions for bridging this gap（弥合差距） in this 2011 book, Technological Nature. They echo the rmendation about getting children into nature, but also include telling stories of how things used to be, imagining what things might be like in the future, and developing amon language about nature, “a way of speaking about wild and domesticinteraction patterns, and the meaningful, deep and often joyful feelings that they generate.”
P)No matter what techniques we use, this growing field of research illustrates（说明） that saving nature requires encouraging people to experience it more often and more deeply. That calls for additional research-Lev and her coauthors have published a toolkit （工具包）that other municipalities（市民） can follow to study the value of their own wild spaces--and clearmunication of the results. “If we can continue to show people the benefits of these wild spaces," Lev says, “maybe people will begin to see more value in keeping these areas undeveloped--for the sake（利益） of our mutual benefit."
36. A new study found parents'' aversion（厌恶） to certain animals would pass on to their children.
37. The disappearance of species and ecological systems erodes our ability to keep what is left.
38. A study showed that the wildest areas of Discovery Park appealed most to the public.
39. The fear of livinganisms is bing more worrisome.（令人烦恼的）
40.Preventing the increase in children''s fear of living creatures is also important for
conserving biodiversity.
41. Research shows that more and deeper experience people have with nature will help save it.
42. Though humans naturally tend to avoid dangerous animals, today''s children try to stay away from even harmless ones.
43. Development in and around Discovery Park could cause heavy losses to the park and the local residents.
44.A large survey of school children found that their negative feelings grew as their
experience with nature diminished.
45. Elizabeth Lev believes increased contact with more wildlife helps conserve （保护）biodiversity.