安徽省皖西南联盟2020-2021学年高一下学期英语开年考试卷（含听力音频）

A valuable musical instrument was played recently in its first public performance (表演) since being rediscovered in 2015. The instrument, a Stradivarius violin, had been stolen and was missing for 35 years.

The violin has a long history. It was made in the 18th Century. Later, the instrument belonged to Roman Totenberg, a Polish-born violinist. He died before the violin was rediscovered. Now, the violin belongs to one of his daughters and its sound is again being heard.

This week, one of Totenberg's former students, Mira Wang, played the instrument for the first time since its rediscovery.

Totenberg's three daughters all agreed that Mira Wang should perform with the Stradivarius. Amy Totenberg says the former student was close to her father.

Antonio Stradivari made the instrument in 1734. Roman Totenberg played the violin for almost 40 years. He performed on many famous concert stages around the world. Totenberg died in 2012 at the age of 101.

The Stradivarius was taken from his dressing room after a show. Daughter Nina Totenberg remembers what happened. " He was greeting well-wishers afterwards and when he turned around to go back and get the violin, it was gone. And they found the case thrown down the stairs in the place where the concert had been and they called the police and the FBI came.”

The disappearance of the violin remained a mystery (谜)for 35 years. Then, the former wife of the man who stole the instrument tried to sell it to a violin specialist who identified it. The former husband had once been a student of Totenberg.

In 2015, the Stradivarius violin was returned to Totenberg's three daughters. They had it repaired to playing condition.

The Totenberg sisters say they will sell the violin to a performer or a group. They want the instrument to be heard again by listeners around the world. Rare instruments also are musical treasures. In 2011, a Stradivarius violin was sold for more than $ 15 million.

The Earth is losing some of its major freshwater supplies. But the water is not in lakes or rivers. They are called "aquifers" (含水层). They formed deep underground as the Earth developed. Some aquifers are so deep that water from very heavy rains cannot reach them through all the rock and dirt.

Many aquifers provide irrigation (灌溉)water for crops. These freshwater are helping farmers in many countries. A new report says some aquifers are being emptied.

Irrigated agriculture is responsible for about 80 percent or more of freshwater use worldwide. A growing part of that comes from underground aquifers because of dry weather or farmers growing crops in areas with little rainfall.

But researchers say taking water from aquifers is creating a large problem. Scientists warn that there is not much that can be done to repair them. It is difficult to measure groundwater because it is so deep underground. It is also difficult to know how much water is there and where it is. The water from these aquifers may not be replaced for hundreds of years.

The report says seven countries use the most non - renewable groundwater for agricultural production. The seven are the United States. India, Pakistan, China, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. The United States is one of the world's major exporters of food. If China and India use up the groundwater they need to feed their populations, they would be forced to buy more food. This increased demand could cause food prices to rise.

The study shows that, while countries like Somalia are dealing with little rainfall, the world may someday face an underground drought. It's a really global issue. All countries around the world are facing this challenge. We don't have any great solutions or strategies to deal with this. So, at the very least, we need to have discussions to come up with new ways, new strategies that recognize this problem and manage how we might adjust our policies (调整 政策).

Any strategy must balance the short-term need for food for the world with the long-term survival of the Earth's aquifers.

Members of a native community in the arctic (北极的)areas of Sweden say their reindeer (驯鹿)are facing possible hunger from unusual weather related to climate change. The local Sami community takes care of about 8,000 reindeer throughout the year. The animals are moved between traditional feeding areas in high mountains close to Norway in the summer and forests farther east in the winter.

A community member, Inga, is worried about his reindeer. He said climate change has affected the area's weather activity and created food shortages. "If we don't find better areas for them where they can feed themselves and find food, the reindeer will die from hunger," Inga said. He verified the problem by reaching down into the snow and pulling up a hard piece of ice close to the soil.

The area received unusual snowfall early in the fall, followed by rain that froze. Inga said this traps the plants that reindeer eat under a thick cover of ice. Some of the hungry reindeer have now moved away from their traditional feeding areas in search of food.

Community members say half the reindeer moved towards the east as planned. But the rest headed back to the mountains, where they face the risk of attacks by other animals or being caught in an avalanche (雪崩). Older members of the Sami community say that in the past, they only remember bad winters about once every ten years. But now, Inga says “extreme and strange weather are appearing more and more often," happening several times a year.

Snowfall is common for the area. But as temperatures increase, rain can also fall, creating a "rain-on-snow" effect. When this happens, food remains trapped under the ice where the reindeer cannot reach it. This causes the animals to grow weaker and struggle to make it through the winter. Weather changes have hit the Sami community hard.

"We don't want money because we can't buy better weather with money. We need the EU to take action and they need to do it now," said Inga.