B
新素材 环保壁画 Brazilian artist and activist Mundano recently painted an unusual mural (壁画) on a building in Sao Paulo. The paint included materials collected from natural disasters, such as ash from wildfires and mud from floods. Mundano hoped to draw global attention to climate change, as extreme weather events have been causing destruction across Brazil.
The large mural—over 30 metres high and 48 metres wide—shows the grey remains of trees on a brown land that is dry and broken, representing the deforestation (滥伐森林) and serious drought in the Amazon rainforest.
The mural also shows local activist Alessandra Korap wearing a circle of flowers around her head. She holds a sign that says, “Stop the destruction keep your promise.” The artist says those messages are directed to Cargill, a US-based soybean (大豆) producer. Soy farming is one of the biggest causes of deforestation in the Amazon. Cargill says it will end deforestation in its supply chain in Brazil by 2025. Mundano is seeking to hold the company responsible for that promise.
In recent months, human-caused wildfires have severely damaged protected places in the Amazon area. Smoke spread over a very large area and affected the air quality in some Brazilian cities.
Drought has caused a terrible situation nationwide. On October 22, 2024, the depth of the Amazon’s Negro River measured (测量) 12.46 metres, showing a small increase from 10 days earlier, when the river was at its lowest point since measurements started 122 years ago. But this last reported measure is still about 6 metres below normal for the same date in earlier years.
Earlier this year, a flood in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul killed more than 180 people, affected over 2 million people, and destroyed city communities.
Mundano used mud from that flood, ashes from Brazil’s fires in the Atlantic Forest, and clay from an Amazon village where Alessandra Korap is from to create the mural. “From floods to droughts, everything is connected!” Mundano said in an interview.
6. What makes the mural unique?
A. Its size.
B. Its paint.
C. Its colours.
D. Its audience.
7. What’s the mural most like?

A.
B.
C.
D.
8. Why does Mundano include Alessandra Korap in his mural?
A. To push Cargill to honour its promise.
B. To celebrate Brazil’s natural beauty.
C. To draw attention to global warming.
D. To show the importance of soybeans.
9. What can we learn about the Negro River?
A. A flood here took over 180 lives.
B. Its depth hit a record low on Oct. 22.
C. It was 6.46 m deep 122 years ago.
D. It has suffered greatly from drought.
10. What can be inferred from Mundano’s actions and words in the last paragraph?
A. Climate disasters are closely related.
B. The Amazon is home to great civilizations.
C. Natural materials are perfect for painting.
D. Floods and droughts are the worst disasters.

B