Tiny pieces of plastic are everywhere. Now, they’ve been found in bottled water. And the amount is about one hundred times more than scientists once thought.
This is a finding from a study by researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University. The team tested three brands (品牌) of bottled water sold in the US. They found about 240,000 tiny plastic pieces in a liter of bottled water.
About 10% of these plastic pieces were microplastics (微塑料). And the other 90% were nanoplastics (纳米塑料). The nanoplastic is smaller than a human hair.
Microplastics can pass into our blood, brain and cells (细胞). They have already been found in humans’ blood and waste. However, nanoplastics can be even more dangerous. Their smaller size makes them enter the human body easily.
So can they hurt us? Scientists aren’t sure yet. But earlier research has shown that the chemicals (化学物质) used in plastic production are harmful to our health. They can put people at increased risk of illness. The nanoplastics themselves may not be harmful. But they can act as carriers of those dangerous chemicals.
The researchers hope their work will lead to a better understanding of how much plastic humans put into their bodies. And the study provides more support for past advice to avoid drinking water from plastic bottles. So try to do that from now on!
Tiny pieces of plastic have been found in bottled water. The researchers |
Many train passengers are troubled by the noise in the compartments (车厢). If you dream of plenty of quiet when traveling by train, it
First, you must keep your phone quiet.
Getting a
Are you looking forward to a quiet train ride? If you say yes, just go for it now!
3 . If you can’t see, can you still enjoy movies? The answer is yes. The Guangming Cinema project makes it possible. It provides movies with audio (声音的) descriptions for people who can’t see. Instead of watching, they can enjoy the stories only by listening to them.
What is this kind of movie like? It adds the narration (旁白) between the movie’s dialogue. The narrations let people know what is being shown on the screen, including the background and scenes in the films.
Wang Weili set up the Xinmu Theater in Beijing to serve the blind community. He remembered watching the Hollywood action film The Terminator with a blind friend in 2000 and telling every scene to him patiently. This made his friend feel enjoyable and then inspired him to start the theater project.
Xiao Huanyi is one of the theater’s fans. He has been visiting the theater for 12 years. “I used to listen to stories that told the plots (情节) on the radio,” said Xiao. “But Xinmu Theater is different—it lets me clearly know about the scenes. This is precious to us.”
Since 2005, the theater has organized 1,088 free movie activities. “The government can provide special schools to meet their basic living needs. But life isn’t just made up of basic living needs,” Wang said. “The world is made up of heat, smell, color, sound, and so on. I want to describe all of these for them,” he added.
1. Who does the Guangming Cinema project mainly help?| A．People who can’t hear clearly. |
| B．People who have difficulty seeing. |
| C．People who love watching movies. |
| A．By describing the scenes. |
| B．By making the dialogue fun. |
| C．By providing bigger screens. |
| A．To introduce the challenges he met. |
| B．To explain why his theater was set up. |
| C．To show how he communicated with his blind friend. |
| A．Successful. | B．Possible. | C．Valuable. |
| A．Theaters are places for people to relax. |
| B．It’s necessary to try something different. |
| C．We should care for the disabled who have special needs. |
If you go to another
Toys are not the only things made in China. “I wanted to
It was a cold night. The taxi driver didn’t take even one passenger all day. When he went by the train station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he drove to him and asked, “Where are you going, sir?”
“To the MP Hotel,” the young man answered. When the taxi driver heard this. He didn’t feel happy any more. The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was near the train station. But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the young man through many streets of the big city. 4.长时间之后，他们到达了那家旅馆。“Here we are! You should pay me seventeen dollars, please,” the taxi driver said to the young man. “What? Seventeen dollars! Do you think I’m a fool? Only last week, I took a taxi from the train station to this hotel and I only gave the driver fifteen dollars. 5. I know how much I have to pay for the trip.”
1. What was the weather like that night?2. Who did the driver see when he went by the train station?
3. How much did the young man think he should pay for the trip?
4. 将文中划线部分的句子翻译成英文。
5. 将文中划线部分的句子翻译成中文。
Liu Wei is very famous in China because he can play the piano with his toes (脚趾).
One day when Liu Wei was only 10 years old, he played a game with some friends.
Liu Wei was very sad when both his arms were cut off after the accident.
Liu Wei’s dream was to be a pianist. He learned to play the piano with his toes.
Maybe you can not believe that Liu Wei is able to play well only with his toes. The audience (观众) were deeply moved and very excited when they watched his performance.
| A．But he was very sad and wanted to give up. |
| B．But soon he had to make a choice. |
| C．He lost both his arms because of electricity. |
| D．And teaching himself to play the piano with his toes was very hard. |
| E．The other was to work hard without arms to live an excellent life. |
7 . Our body needs a lot of energy (能量) every day. It asks us to eat enough food. If we are too thin, we will often feel tired and maybe we’ll have health problems, too. To stay healthy, we must eat healthy food.
Milk and dairy (乳制品)
Food like milk and cheese helps us keep teeth and bones (骨胳) strong.
Fruit and vegetables
Food like apples, tomatoes, and carrots help us keep our eyes and skin (皮肤) healthy.
Grain Food
Food like bread and rice gives us energy to run and jump.
Meat Food
Meat like mutton, pork and fish helps build our muscles (肌肉).
And eating healthily is important for children and their parents. When parents have poor eating habits, their children always do, too. So if you want your children to be healthy, you should keep a good habit first.
1. The underlined word “Grain” in the passage means “________” in Chinese.| A．植物 | B．谷物 | C．小麦 |
| A．feel tired | B．be still strong | C．be healthier |
| A．their own eating habits |
| B．different eating habits from their parents |
| C．the same eating habits as their parents |
| A．A lot of energy every day. |
| B．Health problems. |
| C．Healthy food. |
| Found: Some keys and a red box are in Classroom l. There is an eraser and a blue watch in the box. Are they yours? Call Laura at 356-7788. | Art Club Have nothing to do after work? Why not come to our club and learn to draw? It’s fun. You can also make friends here. Call Sally at 345-1258. Time: 6:00 p. m.—8:00 p.m. (From Monday to Friday) |
| Teachers Wanted Are you a teacher? Are you good with children? Can you volunteer to help them with English on weekends? Come to Xinhua School. Call Robert at 378-5378. | Helping Drive Can’t drive after drinking? I can help you. I will drive you home and keep you safe. I’m a good driver. And I know the city well. Call Bob at 549-3582 at any time. |
| A．Orange. | B．Blue. | C．Red. |
| A．Laura | B．Sally | C．Robert |
| A．356-7788 | B．345-1258 | C．378-5378 |
9 . 三年的初中时光里，我们参加了各种各样丰富且有意义的活动，如志愿者活动、俱乐部活动、艺术节、劳动实践（labor practice）、运动会等，这些活动不仅让我们收获了快乐，掌握了技能，更让我们提升了综合素养。你校官网的英语栏目English World正在开展征文活动邀请同学们分享活动体验，请你写一篇短文进行投稿。
内容包括：
●an activity that makes you grow
●an experience you had
●your understanding of taking part in the activity
要求：
1．词数不少于80；
2．文中不得出现真实的人名、校名。
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . “How are you?” is a nice question. It’s a friendly way that people in the USA greet each other. But “How are you?” is also a very unusual question. It’s a question that doesn’t need an answer. The person who asks “How are you?” hopes to hear the answer “Fine”, even if the person’s friend isn’t fine. The reason is that “How are you” isn’t really a question and “Fine” isn’t really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying “Hello” or “Hi”.
Sometimes, people also don’t say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks “Do you agree?”, the other person might think, “No, I disagree. I think you’re wrong…”. But it isn’t very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say “I’m not sure.”. It’s a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone.
People also don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says “I have to go now.”. Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse: “Someone’s at the door.”, “Something is burning on the stove (炉子).”. The excuses might be real, or not. Perhaps the person simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person.
Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don’t say exactly what they are thinking. It’s an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it’s part of the game of language.
1. What do we know about “How are you?” from Paragraph One?| A．A real question to ask your friend. |
| B．A usual question without answers. |
| C．A friendly way to greet each other. |
| A．You are wrong. | B．I’m not sure. | C．Of course not. |
| A．举起 | B．纠缠 | C．挂断 |
| A．try to talk in a polite way |
| B．always say what you mean |
| C．never disagree with others |
| A．following time order | B．giving examples | C．offering suggestions |
