Green Living Solutions for Small Budgets
There are plenty of major environmental changes you can make when you have an unlimited budget.
Want to cut your home utility bill(水电账单）？
Maybe selling your car altogether isn't entirely practical, but cutting out the number of trips you take in it is an easy way to save money. Invest in a used bike,buy a public transit pass, and plan your weekend trips according to neighborhoods.
Growing all your food can end up being a major investment.
| A．Then turn down the heat. |
| B．Just keep it simple and affordable. |
| C．But not all the big impacts come from big spending. |
| D．Each can help you save on gas and other related costs. |
| E．This has proved effective in various aspects of your life. |
| F．The most effective way is to start with the size of your home. |
| G．But even a small garden can help you cut your budget on food. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Tai chi has been studied scientifically in recent years. Evidence suggests that tai chi may offer numerous benefits beyond stress reduction. Wondering how to get started in tai chi?
A tai chi instructor can teach you some specific positions and how to control your breathing.
Under the guidance of the tai chi instructor, you may find it helpful to practice tai chi in the same place and at the same time every day to develop a routine.
If you want to reap the greatest stress reduction and other health benefits from tai chi, just find an instructor and practice it regularly!
| A．An instructor also can teach you how to practice tai chi safely. |
| B．Keep in mind that tai chi instructors don’t have to be licensed. |
| C．Some qualified web-based distance education is also an option. |
| D．Taking classes is one of the best ways to become a tai chi instructor. |
| E．You can consider seeking guidance from qualified tai chi instructors. |
| F．Eventually, you may feel confident enough to do tai chi on your own. |
| G．But if your schedule is flexible, do tai chi whenever you have a few minutes. |
【推荐2】How do you decide on a hobby? Here are some ways to figure out what is best suited to you.
Look at your childhood. Think about what pursuits made you happy as a child. Did you take lessons in dance, music, ice skating or art?
Go on a search for inspiration. Just walking around a craft store among the chalk, paints, scrapbooks and bric-a-brac （小摆设） might remind you of an old passion or a fun craft you always wanted to try.
Enjoy cooking. If you spend a lot of time cooking for your family, consider devoting some free time to the fun parts of cooking.
Consider the family pet.
Try home decoration. Offer to help friends decorate their homes, or go room by room in your own home and think about the projects you’d love to complete.
Find fun in organization or exercise. People find a lot of pleasure in creating scrapbooks, tracking family history, taking photos and creating video memories of family events.
For more tips, look for the “How to Find a Hobby” guide at nytimes.com/ guides.
| A．Increase your reading. |
| B．Run your own business. |
| C．All of these pursuits can be turned into adult hobbies. |
| D．And one of the healthiest ways to start a hobby is to focus on exercise. |
| E．Sometimes just enjoying new experiences can spark interest in a hobby. |
| F．Train your dog as a therapy dog and spend free time taking the dog to visit people in hospitals. |
| G．Researchers estimate that lack of exercise could be responsible for around one in ten cases of heart disease and cause most of the sub-health problems. |
【推荐3】How to protect children web fans from unsuitable material online while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the U.S.
For some parents, the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as dangers and with good guides, some education, and a few precautions (预防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated (航行). “Kids have to be online. If we tell our kids they can’t have access to the Internet, we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.
Most kids have started to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. The most popular way to limit access would be to use what is known as a “content screener (过滤器)”. But this can’t be wholly reliable (可靠的), and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what is OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing (浏览) the Internet.
A few other tips:
· Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.
· Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make online.
·Tell your child not to give online strangers personal information, especially like address and phone number.
· And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet online over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them unless you go along.
1. The best way to protect children from improper material is ________.| A．to install (安装) a content screener on the computer |
| B．to buy some search engines for the children |
| C．to be nearby when they are surfing the Internet |
| D．to talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong |
| A．Surfing the Internet is the best method of educating children. |
| B．Children’s not having access to Internet may have an effect on their progress. |
| C．Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having access to Internet. |
| D．Searching engines can help children to select materials fit for them. |
| A．softwares fit for children want programming |
| B．a child who is online is in danger |
| C．Internet is a jungle full of danger |
| D．Internet contains a lot of harmful site |
【推荐1】Some talk of building settlements on the moon or mars to help make sure humanity survives long into the future. Others have their sights set closer to home: on future cities under the ocean.
“Technologically speaking, it is absolutely possible to colonize the bottom of the sea,” says Fabien Cousteau, a well-known ocean explorer who once spent 31 days living in what is now the world’s only functioning undersea habitat, Aquarius. It’s about the size of a school bus and located 62 feet below the ocean surface off the Florida Keys.
Just as astronauts test what it would be like to live in space, aquanauts try out undersea living with an eye on the future. Escaping from disasters such as climate change, wars, or pandemics is one reason to live under the sea. Others include studying, exploring, or appreciating the ocean. It’s costly and expensive to constantly keep up an ocean habitat which must pump in or make its own air, electricity, and fresh water. Inhabitants have to deal with high pressure. And infections can develop rapidly due to high humidity.
Despite the challenges, several new ocean habitats and cities are under construction. A series of space station-like undersea living quarters for aquanauts called Proteus are scheduled to be completed by 2025 off Curacao, an island north of Venezuela in South America. An undersea colony called Ven Base Alpha will be built near a hydrothermal vent, which would supply it with energy. Meanwhile, an undersea city called Ocean Spiral in Japan would link its surface to the deep sea, using the difference in pressure to generate energy and produce fresh water. This sounds amazing, but it would be extremely expensive and remains just a design.
Not everyone agrees that building homes in the ocean is a good idea. This type of development could place even more strain on ecosystems that are already struggling with pollution and climate change. It’s important to make sure that any construction is done carefully, says Susanne Menden-Deuer, an oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island. Wild undersea habitats should be treated as “the precious, irreplaceable resource that they are,” she says.
1. What do we know about Aquarius?| A．It is still under construction. |
| B．It functions as an undersea school bus. |
| C．It is the only ocean habitat in operation. |
| D．It only allows a person to live there for 31 days. |
| A．The present and future of living under the sea. |
| B．The reasons and challenges of living under the sea. |
| C．The purpose and cost of building undersea settlements. |
| D．The problems and findings of building undersea settlements. |
| A．Rapid development of undersea habitats. |
| B．Protection of irreplaceable ocean resource. |
| C．Negative impacts on undersea ecosystems. |
| D．Struggles with pollution and climate change. |
| A．A textbook. |
| B．An exam paper. |
| C．An academic article. |
| D．A science magazine. |
【推荐2】In a county of Britain, a pair of pig farmers has managed to feed one million bees by turning over half of their land to wildflowers. Four years ago, brothers Mark and Paul Hayward decided to fill 81 acres of their farm land with wildflowers. This week, a study found they were feeding one million bees at any time.
“This was our target when we started, to, grow enough flowers to feed a million bees on a single day.” Mark said. “We are acutely aware that bees are under threat from modern farming methods and that East England is one of the worst places where bees are seriously suffering from lack of wildflower diversity,” he continued.
“Every third bite of food you eat can come from bees and we wanted to create an operation on our farm that did not push nature out but rather hugged it-as a central part of our ecology system and our food cycle,” he said.
The farm uses all kinds of seeds which can produce many different wild plants and of course, the bees can get food from different wildflowers.
“We are taking a very small role in helping society restore a balance and this starts with plant diversity to encourage insects, bees, small mammals(哺乳动物), and birds,” said Paul. “At the end of the day, we see ourselves as caretakers of this land. Between us we have six children and we owe it to them to farm sustainability(持续性)and set an example for the generations to come,” added Paul.
According to the Bee Conservation Trust, many types of bees have seen their populations decline by 70%, and two species have become extinct in the last century.
Gill Perkins, CEO of the Bee Conservation Trust said, “Thanks to Mark and Paul, at least here, a million bees can keep living, which is of great significance for ourselves now and future.”
1. What can we know about the brothers from the first two paragraphs?| A．They have about 160 acres of land. |
| B．They grow wild flowers for pigs. |
| C．They are not good at growing wild flowers. |
| D．They have to support 1, 000, 000 bees in their land. |
| A．There is a shortage of water for bees. |
| B．Bees are not used to the modern society. |
| C．There are too many animals eating bees. |
| D．Bees can not find different wild flowers. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．The Bees are in Danger Now |
| B．Two Brothers Feed a Million Bees |
| C．Only one Million Bees are Surviving in East England |
| D．Two Brothers Love Wild Flowers in East England |
【推荐3】Recently, I pulled a jacket from my wardrobe, paired it with my red trousers and earrings, and hit the town for a book signing event. That night, I found myself unexpectedly satisfied. I got more praise over this jacket than I had got in years. But what made me feel way better was to respond, “Thank you. I bought it at a second-hand shop.”
Not only did I spend minimal amount on a clearly unbelievable find, but I also joined the ranks of consumers turning to circular fashion”-a growing trend in refreshing our wardrobe and producing new clothes in more planet-friendly ways.
As for the clothing industry; it produces close to 10% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions (碳排放) and is a massive consumer of the world's water supplies. To create a single pair of jeans, for example, requires nearly 2,000 gallons of water. And each year, around 8 billion barrels of oil are used to produce artificial materials.
Consumers also contribute to the problem. They buy cheap new clothes, wear them a few times, and then throw them out. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans threw away 16 million tons of clothing in 2018, with only 15 percent recycled--the rest ended up in landfills or being exported abroad.
Something’s got to give. Scientists are working to develop less harmful carbon-negative fabrics, while some leading brands are shifting from linear take-make-waste economies to circular ones in which fewer clothes are made, waste and pollution are vastly reduced, and the used clothing is given new life.
But there’s also a role for the individual in addressing the problem. “Following the circular fashion, you’ll build an affordable cupboard that's better for the planet,” says Gama, co-founder of a company that helps brands scare their recycling and resale programs.
According to ThredUP, the world’s largest fashion resale platform, the U.S. second-hand market is expected to more than double by 2026. “Our resale report data found that over half of the consumers are more opposed to waste, both financially and environmentally, says ThredUP president Anthony Marino.
1. What amazed the author at the book signing event?| A．People thought highly of her books. |
| B．People got attracted by “circular fashion” |
| C．She got others’ recognition for her dressing |
| D．She had the chance to buy second-hand goods. |
| A．The high costs of artificial materials. |
| B．The seriousness of environmental pollution. |
| C．The necessity of producing artificial materials. |
| D．The high environmental costs of the clothing industry. |
| A．Improving the quality of their clothes. |
| B．Researching recyclable clothing materials. |
| C．Promoting a sustainable clothing industry. |
| D．Making their clothes affordable to consumers. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Confident. | C．Objective. | D．Curious. |
