A 23-year-old journalist from Kumasi, Ghana, has broken the world record for the longest time to hug a tree.
Abdul Hakim Awal’s “tree-hug-a-thon”, which took place outside Kumasi Cultural Centre, lasted 24 hours 21 minutes. The previous record of 16 hours was set by Ugandan environmental activist Faith Patricia Ariokot earlier this year. Abdul took on this challenge to highlight the importance of nature conservation in Ghana. He made a promise to plant a new tree for every minute his record attempt lasted.
Abdul was not permitted any breaks during his record attempt — he had to remain standing and keep his arms wrapped around the tree throughout the entire duration. Now that the record stands at 24 hours — the point at which record attempts are considered ‘marathons’ — the title has been modified (调整) to longest marathon hugging a tree. This means that future challengers will be permitted breaks (a total of two hours per day) in order to combat the harmful effects of the lack of sleep.
Abdul, who has witnessed the consequences of desertification (荒漠化) on his family’s hometown of Garu, now hopes to establish a nationwide tree-planting initiative. He said: “We know how trees, an essential resource which the entire human race depends on, are becoming scarce in Ghana. Though we have been taught about preservation of trees since the early years of our lives, the contribution from everyone is not as significant as it should be. This attempt for the longest time to hug a tree, to me, spells out an important task to preserve human life by preserving trees.”
Abdul is not the first Ghanaian to set a tree-hugging world record this year. He follows in the footsteps of forestry student Abubakar Tahiru, who set a record for the most trees hugged in one hour with a total of 1,123. An individual tree, located in France, also earned a Guinness World Records title this year — standing at a height of 21 metres, it is the world’s tallest cork oak tree.
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1.1.How many trees would Abdul plant for his final record attempt?
A 960.
B 1,440.
C 1,461.
D 1,878.
解析：选C。C 数字计算题。根据第二段第一句“Abdul Hakim Awal’s ‘tree-hug-a-thon’, which took place outside Kumasi Cultural Centre, lasted 24 hours 21 minutes.”阿卜杜勒·哈基姆·阿瓦尔在库马西文化中心外举行了这场“拥抱树木马拉松”，持续了24小时21分钟。和最后一句“He made a promise to plant a new tree for every minute his record attempt lasted.”他承诺每坚持一分钟就新种一棵树。由此可计算出他将要种1461棵树（24小时21分钟总共是1461分钟）。故选C。
2.2.What can we know from the third paragraph?
A Abdul could have taken a break for two hours.
B Future challenges would be more difficult.
C Abdul protested against the old rules of the challenge.
D Future challengers can take a break for their health.
解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“This means that future challengers will be permitted breaks (a total of two hours per day) in order to combat the harmful effects of the lack of sleep.”这意味着未来的挑战者将被允许中途休息（每天总共两小时），以对抗睡眠不足的有害影响。故选D。
3.3.What does the underlined word “scarce” probably mean?
A Special.
B Rare.
C Common.
D Typical.
解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。根据划线词所在句的前文“the consequences of desertification”土地荒漠化的后果以及“to establish a nationwide tree-planting initiative”发起全国性的植树活动，可知阿卜杜勒认为加纳的树正变得越来越少。故选B。
4.4.Why did Abdul perform the attempt to challenge Guinness World Record?
A To win a big sum of prize money.
B To get people cultivate more tall trees.
C To call on people to stop cutting trees.
D To concern people with the tree protection.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据第四段最后一句“This attempt for the longest time to hug a tree, to me, spells out an important task to preserve human life by preserving trees.”对我来说，这种最长时间拥抱一棵树的尝试，详细说明了通过保护树木来保护人类生命的重要任务。由此可知，他想让人们关注对树木的保护。故选D。
