As the world’s population continues to increase, so does the amount of global waste people produce. According to data collected by the World Bank Group, nations are on pace to generate 4 billion tons of waste annually by the year 2100. Many experts are calling the problem of global waste a worldwide health crisis because the waste is ruining the world’s oceans, air and soil and endangering the health of all living things.
For years, government agencies have been telling citizens that living a zero-waste lifestyle is the way to go. Now some grocery stores are helping people do that.
Most grocery stores produce waste when they throw away food and packaging material. In some cases, the food consists of fruit and vegetables that don’t look good any more. In other cases, it’s packaged food that is nearing the “sell-by” date printed on the package. After the sell-by date passes, the food is not considered safe to eat. Thus, many stores throw out unsold packaged food before that date arrives.
To solve this problem, business people are opening smaller zero-waste grocery stores. Instead of selling food in packages, these stores offer it in open containers. Customers bring their own bags or clean containers to the store. There, they fill their bags or containers with everything from nuts and grains to oil and vinegar. They pay for only the amount of each product that they need. Zero-waste stores often sell fruit and vegetables as well. When these goods start to look old, they’re sold at a discount or donated to a charity. Inspired by these smaller zero-waste grocery stores, some large supermarkets are taking similar steps to reduce the amount of waste that they produce.
1. What causes some produce to be thrown away?| A．Poor sales performance. |
| B．Lack of visual attraction. |
| C．No printed sell-by date. |
| D．Ruined packaging material. |
| A．Packaged food is available there. |
| B．Nuts and grains are free of charge there. |
| C．The fruit there is donated from a charity. |
| D．Their customers can bring empty glass jars. |
| A．Taking steps to regulate smaller stores. |
| B．Following the example of smaller stores. |
| C．Establishing partnerships with smaller stores. |
| D．Putting several smaller stores out of business. |
| A．Guide to Outdoor Recreation. |
| B．Best Craft and Hobby Magazine. |
| C．Journal of American Literary Research. |
| D．Weekly Bulletin of Environmental News. |
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【推荐1】We're so attached to plastic, but we're careless consumers. Waste plastic is entering our ecosystems and food chains with untold consequences. Cleaning up our polluted world of plastic may seem a noble, but thankless task. However, some people are seeing economic opportunity in the mission.
Plastic Bank, a social enterprise from Canada, is monetizing plastic recycling while empowering those most affected by the waste. It works to prevent waste plastic from entering oceans by encouraging people in developing countries to collect plastic from their communities in exchange for cash, food, clean water or school tuition for their children. After collection, plastic is weighed, sorted, chipped, melted into balls and sold on as“raw material”to be made into everything from bottles for cleaning products to clothing.
“I saw in large quantities; I saw an opportunity,”CEO David Katz told the audience at the Sustainable Brands Oceans conference in Porto, Portugal on November 14.“We reveal the value in this material,”he added.
Plastic Bank was founded in 2013 and launched on the ground operations in 2014 in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western, Hemisphere, where close to 60% of the population live under the poverty line. As result of poor waste disposal and recycling infrastructure (基础设施)，plastic waste enters rivers or is burned and poses the health threats to the local residents.
The company says i has over 2,000 collectors working in the country, with its full- time collectors on average 63% above the poverty line thanks to the income they make from the project. Through its app based payment system, many collectors now have bank accounts for the first time, and are able to ultimately escape ultra poverty.
“Nothing we're doing is against the laws of physics,”said Katz. “All the technology exists for us to solve and save the world. It's only creative thought.”
1. What is Plastic Bank aimed to do?| A．Test out creative ideas. |
| B．Discover new material. |
| C．Promote plastic recycling. |
| D．Stop people using plastic. |
| A．Purchasing- collecting—recycling. |
| B．Exchanging collecting—purchasing. |
| C．Collecting- exchanging—reproducing. |
| D．Persuading consuming—reproducing. |
| A．Haiti attaches great importance to recycling. |
| B．Many locals benefit greatly from the project. |
| C．Collecting is an efficient way to recycle waste. |
| D．The project has solved unemployment in Haiti: |
| A．Companies stand to ban plastic consumption |
| B．Technology finds its way to kick off poverty |
| C．David Katz speaks at the conference in Porto |
| D．Plastic Bank is fighting against plastic waste |
【推荐2】Millions of tons of electronic waste, known as e-waste, is produced ever year. In 2016, the world’s population make 49 million tons of electronic waste. It has been calculated that there will be more than 60 million tons by 2021. The amount of electronic waste is growing so rapidly that it has become a global problem that needs to be addressed.
What is causing the upsurge(激增)in e-waste? Technology is becoming more and more widespread, covering almost every aspect of our lives. Meanwhile, the lifespan of devices is getting shorter— many products will be thrown away once their batteries(电池)die, to be replaced by new devices. Companies update the design or software so quickly and it is usually cheaper and easier to buy a new product than to repair an old one. Since prices are falling, electronic devices are in demand around the world.
As more people buy electronic equipment, manufacturers(制造商)are beginning to face shortages of the raw material needed to make their products, so recycling and reusing materials from discarded(废弃的)products and waste makes economic and environmental sense. Recycling e-waste is practiced both formally and informally. Formal e-waste recycling usually involves taking apart the electronics, separating and sorting through the materials and cleaning them. Companies must obey health and safety rules to reduce the health and environmental harm of handling e-waste by using pollution-control technologies. All this makes formal recycling expensive.
With the amount of e-waste growing around the world, recycling alone will not be enough to handle the problem. In order to reduce e-waste, manufacturers need to design electronics that are safer, and more durable (耐用的)repairable. As a customer, you’d better get our old product repaired if possible and buy a new device only when you really need.
1. The underlined word “addressed” in paragraph 1 can be replaced by _________.| A．reduced | B．changed |
| C．controlled | D．solved |
| A．The problems caused by the upsurge in e-waste. |
| B．The reasons for e-waste’s sharp increasing. |
| C．The bad effect of updating devices. |
| D．The causes of devices’ price dropping. |
| A．Improving the quality of e-devices. |
| B．Lowering the costs of technology innovation. |
| C．Relieving companies’ lacking raw materials. |
| D．Increasing the variety of electronic products. |
| A．Recycling is the only way to reduce e-waste. |
| B．Companies should be mainly responsible for reducing e-waste. |
| C．Repairing a device is better than buying a new one. |
| D．Everyone should take action to reduce e-waste. |
【推荐3】For over a month, forest fires in Indonesia spread very quickly out of control as the country suffered its worst drought(干旱) in 50 years. Within days a cloud of smog was hanging over neighboring countries including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
When the smoke combined with pollution from factories and cars, it soon became poisonous(有毒的). Dangerous amounts of CO became trapped under the smog and pollution levels rose. People coughed as they left the house and their eyes watered immediately.
The smog made it impossible to see across streets and whole cities disappeared as grey soot (烟灰) covered everything. In some areas, tap water was used from high-rise city buildings to try and break up the smog.
Finally, heavy rains, which came in November, put out the fires and cleared the air. But the environmental costs and health problems will remain. Breathing problems could well increase and many non-sufferers may have difficulties for the first time. Wildlife has suffered too. In lowland forests, elephants, deer, and tigers have been driven out of their homes by smog.
But smog is not just an Asian problem. In fact, the word was first used in London in 1905 to describe the mixture of smoke and thick fog. Sometimes the smog was so thick and poisonous that people were killed by breathing problems or in accidents. About 4,000 Londoners died within five days as a result of thick smog in 1952.
1. When did the forest fires most probably happen?| A．In July. | B．In October. |
| C．In November. | D．In December. |
| A．The fires spread to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. |
| B．The fires were put out by the firefighters and volunteers. |
| C．Many animals were left homeless because of the smog. |
| D．4,000 people were killed by the forest fires. |
| A．Smog can lead to drought problem. | B．Smog can cause forest fires easily. |
| C．Smog has little effect on wildlife. | D．Smog is more than an Asian problem. |
| A．Both were caused by drought. | B．Both caused many deaths. |
| C．Both were poisonous. | D．Both spread in several countries. |
【推荐1】Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street. Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programmes are music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tape. Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk (民间) music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys (牛仔) who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.
1. Which of the following is talked in this passages?| A．popular, folk and country music | B．pop music, folk music |
| C．pop music and western music | D．folk, pop and classical music |
| A．are loved by all the young people | B．make a CD or tape |
| C．make much money | D．are wanted to sing on the radio |
| A．common life of Americans | B．school life in America |
| C．life of cowboys | D．country life and love stories |
| A．Everyone in America wants to meet pop singers wherever they go. |
| B．Students with cars in America like to listen to music while driving. |
| C．Adult drivers in America listen to music all the time while driving. |
| D．Most students in America like popular music. |
【推荐2】While we may think it feels good to complain, complaining has some bad effects associated with it.
Why isn't complaining beneficial? Research shows that it connects our brain with negativity. The brain is designed to work efficiently. This means that when we repeat a thought, negative or positive, the nerve cells form a bridge between each other to pass information at a higher speed. Therefore, the next time we have a similar type of thought, it is more easily passed. This explains why certain thought patterns become habits.
Yet the harmful effects don't stop there. A study shows that complaining causes the hippocampus(海马区), which plays a vital role in problem-solving, to become smaller.
In addition to causing brain damage, complaining also releases a stress hormone(激素): cortisol, a kind of chemical the body produces when we meet with some danger. Constantly having a high level of cortisol results in high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and lower immunity(免疫力).
The ill effects of our complaining aren't just limited to ourselves: they also involve those around us. We tend to mirror the moods of our friends. For this reason, we should be cautious about having stubborn complainers in our circle of companions.
The best way to deal with constant negativity is to develop a sense of gratitude (感恩). Just like complaining acts as a poison, gratitude acts as a medicine. Research shows it lowers cortisol levels by 23 percent, as well as reduces blood pressure and blood sugar. It also decreases tiredness and depression. Gratitude is the perfect cure for complaining, a behavior that steals our brain power, happiness and physical well-being.
What have you observed about the effects of complaining in your own life or in the lives of others? Have you noticed that when you are grateful, you feel better all over? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
1. What do Para 2-3 mainly talk about?| A．The diseases caused by complaining. |
| B．The decrease of a vital part of our brain. |
| C．The bad effects of complaining on brain power. |
| D．The reason why certain thought patterns become habits. |
| A．Gratitude is an effective cure for cortisol. |
| B．Our body produce cortisol when we feel exited. |
| C．Cortisol is a chemical that can cause brain damage. |
| D．Having a high level of cortisol can lead to many health problems. |
| A．Grateful. | B．Tolerant. | C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a medical report. | C．On a website. | D．In a radio program. |
【推荐3】In winter, many of us are reaching for more clothes and turning on the heat. Besides wearing a pair of long johns, increasing our food intake can help protect us against severe cold. So what food keeps us warm?
Red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, is great when you find yourself in cold conditions because it is a fantastic source of iron, which is crucial for circulating your blood. Iron is an important mineral to help carry oxygen throughout your body. People with low iron may notice cold hands and feet or easily become tired. Eating red meat can also supply vitamin B12, which contributes to healthy nerves and a strong me system.
Oats can keep you warm in winter. It’s great thermogenic(生热的)food and is filled with nutrients that release energy slowly throughout the day to keep your body warm. You can start your day with a hot breakfast of oats or other types of porridge. Oats are a great source of whole grains and fiber. In addition to keeping you full and warm, oats are full of other nutrients.
Hot ginger tea can make you feel warm inside on a cold day. Ginger is known to be good for health. It’s also a diaphoretic(发汗药), which means it will help your body warm from the inside. Ginger has the nature to produce heat and help blood circulation in our bodies, making it a great source of warmth.
Root vegetables like sweet potatoes need more energy to move through the digestion process which raises your body temperature. High in vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium(钾) sweet potatoes add fiber and other nutrients to a warm winter meal. Sweet potatoes also have beta—carotene(β胡萝卜素) that is good for eye heath.
1. How many types of food to keep people warm are mentioned in the text?| A．3. | B．4. | C．5. | D．6. |
| A．It’s a great source of iron. | B．It releases energy slowly. |
| C．It is full of fiber and vitamins. | D．It is great food to generate heat. |
| A．To promote green food. | B．To remind people of a healthy diet. |
| C．To introduce some food to keep warm. | D．To teach people how to keep warm. |
| A．Science Study. | B．Campus Life. |
| C．Global Vision. | D．Physical Education. |
