The negative impacts of plastic have been well-documented. Half plastics produced annually worldwide end up in landfills or the environment. Now, French start-up Carbios wants to help relieve the world’s plastic pollution problem with a bacterial enzyme (细菌酶) that digests PET—the most plentiful plastic used to produce packaging, and plastic bottles—and turn it into its chemical building blocks. The resulting material can be used to create anything and, more importantly, can be continuously recycled.
“Mechanical recycling is limited,” explains Carbios CEO Martin Stephan. “To make a plastic bottle with that technology, you need a plastic bottle as an input material. After several cycles of recycling, the plastic is of lower quality and can only be used for something like the backing of a carpet before it is thrown away entirely. So it’s not a solution for plastics, whereas our solution is a limitless recycling solution.”
The company’s search for the ideal plastic-eating bacteria began about a decade ago, with 100000 promising candidates. The list was soon cut down to one, which was first discovered in 2012. Once the perfect competitor had been identified, Carbios scientists began to improve its plastic digesting power and keep its table at 65℃—the ideal temperature for fast degradation (降解). The improved enzyme was able to downgrade a ton of plastic in less than 10 hours.
To breakdown the plastic, the waste is placed in are actor with water and the enzyme and heated for 16 hours at 65℃. The resulting mix is then purified. This allows for the recovery of the building blocks that makeup PET plastics.
The recycling process, which is currently in its pilot stage, will be tested on a large range by 2021. Carbios hopes to launch the technology commercially in the near future. Though Carbios’ recycling technique will certainly help reduce plastic pollution, it is only part of the solution. Only if people do a better job of ensuring plastic waste ends up in a recycling can, can we win the battle.
1. What’s Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The reason for collecting materials. |
| B．The effective solutions for plastic waste. |
| C．The drawbacks of mechanical recycling of plastics. |
| D．The characteristics of a new plastic-making technique. |
| A．Find a bacteria efficient at breaking down plastic. |
| B．Identify the ideal temperature for fast degradation. |
| C．Gather as much plastic as possible. |
| D．Place plastic in a reactor. |
| A．It’ll be environmentally friendly. |
| B．It’ll reduce their production costs. |
| C．It’ll go into the experimental stage. |
| D．It’ll bring about profits. |
| A．Garbage Sorting Benefits the Whole World |
| B．Carbios has Developed an Plastic-Eating Enzyme |
| C．Carbios: a Pioneer in Protecting Nature |
| D．Plastic Pollution: a Serious Problem |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】5G has the potential to disrupt a huge number of industries, including one of the world’s oldest: Farming. Next-generation 5G networks can be 100 times faster than 4G, making communication between devices and servers much quicker. 5G can also carry much more data than other networks. That makes the technology ideal for transmitting information from remote sensors and drones, key tools that are being tested by farmers. 5G is also helping to automate farming processes.
UK initiative 5G RuralFirst launched a smartphone app in March called Me+Moo, which lets farmers track a “connected” cow and receive daily updates on the animal’s health and behavior. The system, which is being tested on cows at the Agri-Epi Center in Somerset, England, is funded in part by UK government and supported by the tech company Cisco (CSCO). The cows wear 5G-connected collars that send data to the app on everything from what they’re eating to how they’re sleeping. Farmers can see the information instantly. “This provides peace of mind that the cows are happy, healthy and behaving normally, as well as early warning if they are getting sick, are pregnant or need to be checked,” said project manager Duncan Forbes.
Yet to make a difference, 5G will first need to be installed in rural areas. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts that in order to provide for the world’s rapidly rising population, the planet will need to grow 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2009. “To respond to those demands, farmers will need new technologies to produce more from less land, with fewer hands,” reads one report from the organization.
In 2017, another 5G RuralFirst project became the first in the world to successfully plant, tend and harvest a crop without a single human stepping foot in the field. Autonomous Automatic tractors sowed the seeds, drones with sensors monitored the crops, and smaller machines took samples from fields to assess what fertilizers and pesticides to apply.
1. Why can 5G help the farming?| A．Because it can carry more information. |
| B．Because it can be equipped with sensors. |
| C．Because it can disrupt a lot of industries. |
| D．Because it can be installed in rural areas. |
| A．They founded a tech company. |
| B．They let the cows wear 5G-connected collars. |
| C．They kept cows behaving normally. |
| D．They made sure the cows were checked often. |
| A．People should control the rising population. |
| B．People should find more and more land. |
| C．People should turn to the new technology. |
| D．People should learn to get more money. |
| A．It analyzed the soil. |
| B．It dug earth with tractors. |
| C．It employed experts. |
| D．It hired drones with sensors. |
【推荐2】Dogs feel their way through the world with their noses. Researchers have started imitating this super skill with an artificial-intelligence-based detective tool. In a study published in February in PLOS ONE, a multinational team reported an AI-powered system that is as accurate as trained dogs at correctly identifying cases of prostate cancer from urine samples. Andreas Mershin, a research scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wants to eventually integrate the technology into smartphones: There would be a tiny sensor in the phone with AI software running in the cloud.
Prostate cancer, the second most deadly cancer in men worldwide, is difficult to detect. The most widely used test can miss 15 percent of cancers. Trained dogs, on the other hand, were able to identify patients with prostate cancer from urine samples more than 96 percent of the time. Yet dogs can get bored and tired, so researchers want to develop an AI system that works more consistently.
Living cells produce chemicals that come out from the skin, blood, urine and breath. Artificial noses, including the "Nano Nose" that Mershin and one of his colleagues developed, can already detect those chemicals at the same parts-per-billion concentration as dogs. The team added to the chemical sensing an artificial neural network—a type of AI algorithm that can learn from looking at examples how to identify faces, for instance.
As the 2015 Journal of Urology study showed, dogs can be trained to reach more than 96 percent accuracy, and the AI can be trained to reach that same rate. Mershin plans to train the AI algorithm using data from the "Nano Nose", which is currently one third the size of an iPhone 10 and could be further shrunk to be integrated into smartphones.
1. What is the Nano Nose?| A．A device. | B．A method. |
| C．A database. | D．A research team. |
| A．It has the ability to sense chemicals. | B．It can collect samples in the cloud. |
| C．It has the minimum error. | D．It can ensure consistency. |
| A．Made smaller. | B．Cut shorter. | C．Expanded. | D．Upgraded. |
| A．To train dogs to detect diseases. | B．To identify artificial faces. |
| C．To produce AI noses to detect diseases. | D．To add an AI sensor to the smartphone. |
【推荐3】On January 7th, 2022, David Bennett became the first person to have a heart transplanted successfully into him from a pig. On that occasion, mere operation success was the goal. This operation is a milestone for xenotransplantation (异种移植)— the transfer of organs from other species to human patients.
For decades, researchers have attempted to deal with xenotransplantation’s basic problem. This is that the human body, when it recognizes foreign tissue, tends to turn against it. In the case of pigs, the most important marker of foreignness is a sugar molecule (分子) called alpha-Gal. While this molecule does not exist in humans, antibodies to kill it do. So no transplant from a pig with alpha-Gal would last more than a couple of minutes in a human body. In 2003 pigs were produced with a changed genome so as to prevent the enzyme (酶) responsible for making alpha-Gal. This was a step in the right direction, but other barriers popped up.
The pig for David’s operation had a genome changed in ten ways to increase the chances of success. Three genes had been removed to reduce the risk of a human antibody rejecting the organ. A fourth, a growth gene, had also been knocked out, to ensure the heart did not enlarge after transplantation. And six human genes had been added to promote acceptance.
There are other concerns. One is any unknown rejection mechanism. Another is the possibility that the organ may pass viruses to its new host. The pig in question was raised where there was no virus to reduce the chance of that, but it remains a possibility.
In theory, pigs can be raised to provide humans with any solid organ, but some will be more complex than others. Moreover, even if these barriers can be overcome, most researchers still acknowledge that increasing xenotransplantation to meet the world’s demand for organs may take decades. After this news, however, the chances that it will happen eventually have increased.
1. What is the basic problem of xenotransplantation?| A．The human body lacks alpha-Gal. |
| B．The human body resists foreign tissues. |
| C．The life of the transplanted organ is too short. |
| D．The enzyme is prevented from making alpha-Gal. |
| A．Because it would change David’s genome. |
| B．Because it would lead to heart enlargement. |
| C．Because it would make the heart more acceptable. |
| D．Because it would be recognized by David’s antibodies. |
| A．It saved the patient’s life perfectly. |
| B．It had a decreased number of genes. |
| C．It had an unknown rejection mechanism. |
| D．It was raised in a virus-free environment. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Indifferent. | C．Disturbed. | D．Uncertain. |
【推荐1】There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world’s oceans, and each year, 8 million tons of plastic are added to the figure. Though the oceans seem vast enough to stomach a lot of plastic, the level of waste is starting to reach a crisis point: According to a new report by the Ocean Conservancy, by 2025, the ocean could contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish.
All these floating bits of plastic not only disrupt marine ecosystems, but also poison the global supply of seafood. “It’s reaching crisis proportions,” says Andreas Merkl, CEO of the Ocean Conservancy. “Plastic breaks down into small pieces that look like plankton (浮游生物) and is eaten by everything from plankton to whales.”
The new report calls for a focus on improving waste management systems in a handful of developing countries that account for the plastic leakage into the ocean. China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam contribute more than half of the oceans’ plastic since their waste facilities haven’t kept up with rapid industrialization.
How can countries reduce the leakage of waste into the ocean? The Ocean Conservancy report suggests that by providing more waste collection services, closing the leakage points within the collection system, getting rid of waste with effective landfill, and building more recycling facilities, the plastics leakage could be cut by 50% by 2020.
It’s not just an environmentalist’s daydream. Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical, along with some other multinational companies, have joined forces with Ocean Conservancy to fight ocean pollution. “We’re committed to working toward a future of a plastic-free ocean. Companies don’t make plastic with the intention of it ending up in the ocean, and we acknowledge the strong role industry must play in order to help eliminate ocean plastic waste by 2035.” Says a Dow Chemical director.
“While building landfills and incinerators (焚化炉) across these developing countries might not be pretty, it’s far more environmentally friendly than letting waste slide into the world’s oceans.” Says Andreas Merkl.
1. According to the passage, plastic poisons sea food because_________.| A．It damages marine ecosystems |
| B．It breaks down into small bits that can be eaten by fish |
| C．When sea animals are trapped in plastic bags, they can't breathe |
| D．It contains poison pills |
| A．They produce the majority of the waste worldwide |
| B．There are too many multinational companies in those countries |
| C．They have inadequate waste facilities to adapt to rapid industrialization |
| D．Their governments neglect their responsibility to inspect the problem |
| A．multinational companies | B．individuals all over the world |
| C．recycling of waste | D．building landfills and incinerators |
| A．The consequence of plastic trash and the effort made by the developing countries. |
| B．Plastic trash poison the global supply of seafood. |
| C．Landfills and incinerators are beneficial to the developing countries. |
| D．A new report by the ocean Conservancy. |
【推荐2】Not even the sea is safe from the glare (强光) of humans’ light at night. Researchers published the first global map of ocean light pollution. It shows large parts of the sea are lit up at night. And that risks confusing or disrupting the behaviors of sea life.
Tim Smyth led a team to research where in the water this light is strongest. Smyth and his colleagues started with a world map of man-made night-sky brightness that had been created in 2016. Then they added data on the ocean and atmosphere. Some data came from shipboard measurements of man-made light in the water. Others came from satellite images that judge how clear the water is. Particles (微粒) in the water, such as tiny floating plants and animals, can affect how far downward light travels. These factors vary from place to place and may change with the seasons. The team also used computers to copy how different wavelengths of light move through water.
Next, they wanted to know how that underwater light might affect animals. Not all species will be easily affected. The team focused on copepods (桡足亚纲甲壳动物). These common creatures are a key part of many ocean food webs. They use light as a signal to move all together to the dark deep, seeking safety from other surface creatures. Normally they use the sun or the winter moon as their signal. Too much man-made light can mess up their usual patterns.
Light pollution is strongest in about three feet of the water. Here, man-made light can be strong enough to confuse the copepods. Nearly 2 million square kilometers of ocean get such strong night light. That’s an area about the size of Mexico. Farther down, the light gets weaker. But even 65 feet deep, it’s still bright enough to bother copepods across 840,000 square kilometers of ocean.
The team described its findings December 13 in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene.
1. What do we know about copepods from the passage?| A．They are main eaters of other creatures. |
| B．They are not affected by underwater light. |
| C．They can escape attacks with the help of light. |
| D．They can weaken the effect of man-made light. |
| A．By stating opinions. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By raising questions. | D．By giving reasons. |
| A．Light Pollution from Sea Life | B．Living Conditions of Copepods |
| C．Discoveries of Copepods | D．Light Pollution Even in Sea |
【推荐3】People are increasingly wearing gloves and masks in public, in order to protect themselves and reduce the spread of COVID-19 (新冠病毒). Obviously, though, those gloves and masks need to come with proper disposal (处理) directions.
To bring awareness to the current problem, Algarra started a campaign , TheGloveChallenge. “If you see a glove, snap a shot,” Since launching the campaign on March 23, Alagarra said they’ve received over 700 pictures from people all over the United States and in other countries including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Canada and Japan.
Everywhere you look in America, it seems, there are discarded gloves and masks in streets and parking lots, left behind by people who couldn’t be bothered to find a nearby trash bin. It got so bad in New York City over the weekend, that Ryan McKenzie, who lives in Manhattan, began cleaning it up. “I couldn’t believe what I saw so I went to the store and bought a grabber to pick them up. It’s hateful and needs to be brought to people’s attention. "
After receiving so many reports of gloves and masks left behind in Parsippany, New Jersey, the local police department issued a warning: “ Clean up and properly deal with your used gloves and wipes. If you do not, you can be charged and fined up to $ 500.”
Of course, it shouldn’t take a heavy fine to encourage people to clean up after themselves. There are quite a few reasons why leaving your gloves behind is among the worst things you can do during this pandemic. If the used gloves have the virus on them, you could infect essential workers (一线工人). The concern that led you to put on gloves in the first place shouldn’t be reserved for you and your family; you should be just as concerned about others getting corona virus, too.
1. What is the purpose of the campaign?| A．To praise Algarra’s generous behavior. | B．To collect as many pictures as possible. |
| C．To get recognition from other countries. | D．To raise people’s awareness of the problems. |
| A．Worn-out. | B．Newly-bought. | C．Thrown-away. | D．Highly-praised. |
| A．We should show concern for others’ health. |
| B．Facial masks should be worn in a proper way. |
| C．More gloves should be set aside for future use. |
| D．Essential workers can suffer CO VID-19 easily. |
| A．TheGloveChallenge, a Campaign Dealing with Viruses |
| B．Stop Throwing Used Gloves and Masks on the Ground |
| C．Used Gloves and Masks Do Harm to the Environment |
| D．Ryan McKenzie, the First Man to Pick up Masks & Gloves |
【推荐1】You use her as a shoulder to cry on. She texts you back with casual jokes. But she, Xiaoice, is only a virtual chatbot.
Xiaoice, Microsoft’s latest artificial intelligence robot, was briefly released in 2014, and returned to WeChat in 2015, where she became a big hit. Millions of young Chinese now exchange messages with her daily, the New York Times reported. On WeChat, Xiaoice is an official account. After following it, users can start text-based conversations with Xiaoice.
“Her incredible learning ability was why people loved to talk with Xiaoice,” Liu Jinchang, a researcher at High-tech Research and Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, told China Daily. Apart from her ability to identify photos and send emojis (表情符号) in conversations, Xiaoice gains 45 percent of her knowledge from interacting with users, China Daily reported.
Chatbot programs first appeared in the mid-1960s in the US. Driven bytop tech companies, they are becoming smarter and more common. For instance, IBM’s latest artificial intelligence program served as an academic consultant at Australia’s Deakin University, answering students’ questions about course schedules and financial aid. Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa have been used as voice assistants who can read news, play music and even make jokes for their users.
These programs are expected to move beyond smartphones, into televisions, cars and living rooms, the New York Times pointed out. However, it may take decades before scientists develop a “Samantha”, the advanced chatbot seen in the fiction film Her. In the film, Samantha sparks a romantic relationship with her user played by US actor Joaquin Phoenix. Many viewers were enthusiastic about this fantasy of virtual soul mates.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph Two mean?| A．She became a best seller. | B．She became very powerful. |
| C．She became a money maker. | D．She became very popular. |
| A．Do housework. | B．Spread messages. |
| C．Identify various photos. | D．Read news to its users. |
| A．Chatbots mainly run on smartphones now. |
| B．It’ll take decades to apply chatbots to cars. |
| C．Samantha is played by a US actor in the film. |
| D．The film Her doesn’t interest many audience. |
【推荐2】Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev say that the popular dieting strategy of serving food on smaller plates does not necessarily trick us into eating less.
“Plate size doesn’t matter as much as we think it does,” says Dr. Tzvi Ganel, head of the study in a media release. “Even if you’re hungry and haven’t eaten, or are trying to cut back on portions (份), a serving looks similar whether it fills a smaller plate or is surrounded by empty space on a larger one.”
Some dieters may try eating off of smaller plates, hoping that they will feel full because the serving size appears larger on the smaller plate. This strategy is based on the classic Delbouef illusion (错觉), which found that people seeing a black circle inside a larger circle perceived the circle to be smaller than when the same sized black circle was placed inside a smaller circle.
Researchers determined that hunger seems to help with visual perception of food portions. In the experiment, participants who had eaten recently had a difficult time estimating pizza portions that were placed on larger versus smaller trays. But participants who had not eaten for at least three hours were better able to estimate portion sizes correctly.
The authors remind that their results only applied to food sizes. Both groups of participants performed about the same when asked to compare sizes of black circles and hubcaps (轮毂) placed inside different sized circles. Study authors say the results suggest that hunger strengthens our ability to analyze and process what we are seeing.
“Over the last decade, restaurants and other food businesses have been using progressively smaller dishes to adapt to the perceptual bias (偏差) that it will reduce food consumption,” says Ganel. “This study debunks that view. When people are hungry, especially when dieting, they are less likely to be fooled by the plate size, more likely to realize they are eating less and more ready to overeating later.”
So don’t kid yourself. Put away the Barbie plates and give it three hours. Then grab that giant plate and dig in. Your eyes will choose the right size.
1. Why do some dieters switch to smaller dishes?| A．To seek an elegant lifestyle. | B．To measure the serving size. |
| C．To have the impression of being full. | D．To see whether Delbouef illusion is true. |
| A．The black color. | B．The size of circles. |
| C．The strong need for food. | D．The delicious taste of food. |
| A．Disapproves. | B．Confirms. | C．Reflects. | D．Discovers. |
| A．Dieting requires smaller plates. | B．Your dinner plate affects your weight. |
| C．Eating less is a popular dieting practice. | D．Smaller plates won’t lead to less eating. |
【推荐3】The American space agency NASA has sent up a new satellite (卫星) designed to closely study the world’s oceans and atmosphere.
The satellite will spend at least three years studying the environment from 676 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. The satellite will map the entire world each day with two pieces of science equipment. A third one will glean monthly measurements. Scientists should start getting their first data within one or two months.
A major goal of the research is to help scientists improve their ability to predict (预测) hurricanes and other terrible weather events. The equipment can provide detailed data on temperature-related changes happening across the world. The satellite data might help scientists better predict when harmful algae (海藻) overgrowth will happen.
The satellite will also study aerosols (气溶胶) in the air. The study of aerosols is important because they can affect clouds. Aerosols can affect the thickness of clouds, as well as when and how much rainfall the clouds might drop.
Existing satellites can’t collect detailed data on aerosols. The new satellite will help researchers learn more about how aerosols affect clouds and climate over long periods. The new data is expected to provide scientists with detailed information on how aerosols affect the ocean and atmosphere.
There is a relationship between the aerosols and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are very small plants that float near the surface of water. They serve as food for many sea creatures, ranging from shellfish to whales.
The satellite’s equipment will measure changes in phytoplankton. The satellite will collect data on aerosols attached to phytoplankton. These studies will be important in recognizing any changes in phytoplankton from interactions (相互影响) with aerosols which could affect the ocean and life in it.
The current Earth-observing satellites can only see in seven or eight different colors. But the new satellite will see in 200 colors, allowing scientists to better know about different kinds of algae in the sea and particles in the air.
1. What does the underlined word “glean” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Collect. | B．Recover. | C．Influence. | D．Question. |
| A．To know the influence of aerosols. |
| B．To observe the water quality in the ocean. |
| C．To let scientists better predict natural disasters. |
| D．To make people more aware of the atmosphere protection. |
| A．The amount of rainwater. | B．The overgrowth of algae. |
| C．The temperature of the ocean. | D．The spread of certain diseases. |
| A．They protect aerosols very well. | B．They can take on over 200 colors. |
| C．They are important for sea animals. | D．They can’t be observed by previous satellites. |
