Avoid the supermarket shelves piled with cheese, cupcakes and pies. That is the message of an analysis that found these items are the worst when looking at both nutritional and environmental impacts of thousands of food and drink products sold in the UK and Ireland. So far, most studies have focused on the environmental impact of goods such as beef or beans, rather than tofu and other products that shoppers often buy. Where research has focused on such products, it has usually been for a small number of them.
In a bid to bridge the gap, Micheal Clark at the University of Oxford and his colleagues analyzed more than 57,000 food and drink products sold in the UK and Ireland. The team took the ingredients (成份) data from eight retailers (零售商), including major supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s. However, precise figures on how much of each ingredient is in each product were only available for around a tenth of them. To estimate the rest, Clark and his colleagues trained an algorithm (算法) on the known products and used it to predict the composition of the unknown ones. Finally, the team linked all the ingredients to an existing database of environmental impacts, including emissions (排放), land use and water stress.
The results may come as no surprise: meat, fish and cheese products had highest environmental impact while fruit, vegetables, bread and sugary drink products had the lowest burden. Clark admits that none of this is exciting, given what we already knew from past research. “What is important is that you can start getting these impact estimates for products that people are purchasing, which then has a lot of effects,” he says.
One of those is eco-lables, which can help consumers to make greener choices. However, retailers have struggled in the past with the challenge of the large number of food. Clark is thinking about how to eventually turn the data into an app that could be used either by shoppers or by retailers wanting to reduce their environmental impact. “We’ve made that information available in a way that means people can start making informed decisions,” he says.
1. What is the purpose of Clark’s study?| A．To solve the environmental problems with some products. |
| B．To point out the mistakes of the previous research. |
| C．To focus on the important ingredients data from retailers. |
| D．To estimate the environmental impact of frequently-bought products. |
| A．The process of Clark’s study. | B．The result of Clark’s study. |
| C．The significance of Clark’s study. | D．The limitation of Clark’s study. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Worrying. | C．Meaningful. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Nutritious food like beef and eggs. | B．Green food like carrots and bananas. |
| C．Healthy food like fish and tofu. | D．Fresh food like milk and chicken |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】When first entered, Vanak Restaurant does not look like much of a restaurant, but once the pleasant smells of kabob (烤肉串) hit the senses, you are incapable of calling it anything less.
Owned by a local couple, this Persian restaurant has an inviting, homelike atmosphere that many restaurants lack.
The space is small with only a few dining tables and nearly no decoration, but the environment is truly charming.
Lying in a hardly noticeable, street corner, the restaurant still attracts all customers especially those experienced in the delights of Middle Eastern cooking.
A common sight is that of old Persian men sitting in the corner talking loudly about world topiçs, watching .news events on TV, drinking a black tea known as Persian chai, and reading local Persian newspapers all the while trying to finish off their plates piled with food.
The variety of food at the restaurant is limited, but the. amount of each dish is fairly large. Most of the meals can serve two people and are under $10, so not only is it affordable but practical as well.
The food, especially appeals to health-conscious eaters because each-dish is very healthy, made with limited fat and oil and served straight off the grill (烤肉架).
The main dish that the restaurant is popular for is its kabobs, which are different style of grilled meat.
One delicious and extremely healthy dish is the Joojeh Kabob, which is made of grilled chicken pieces served with either rice or bread. Another great kabob is the Chelo Kabob, kabob consisting of grilled beef.
Although the restaurant is small, the atmosphere is nice and the food is delicious. It is a place that should not be overlooked.
1. When first entering the restaurant, one can find that it ________ .| A．is splendidly decorated | B．has pleasant smells of kabobs |
| C．is crowded with dining tables | D．looks like a common restaurant |
| A．is served in. small amounts | B．is rather expensive. |
| C．is rich in variety | D．is very healthy |
| A．occupies a large space | B．owns a favorable location |
| C．is popular for its special food | D．has a quiet environment inside |
【推荐2】Martha Payne is 9 years old. She lives in a small community in Scotland. Martha is interested in the food at her school. She is interested in how good it tastes, and how healthy it is, and whether it contains any hairs. A few months ago, she started to write a blog about her school dinners. She photographed her school dinners, and then posted the pictures on her blog and told us what she thought about the food. Most days, she thought the food was OK, and on some days she thought it was really good.
Children in other schools, and other countries, started to read Martha's blog. Some of them left comments on Martha's school dinners. And some sent Martha pictures of their own school dinners, and Martha published these on her blog. Then Martha started to use her blog to raise money for a charity called Mary's Meals, which provides school meals for children in poor communities in developing countries.
And at this point, the officials who run the education system in the part of Scotland where Martha lives became aware of her blog. They didn't want publicity for the food in their schools. Perhaps they were afraid that people would start to criticize (批评) their school dinners and say that they were unhealthy. They said that Martha's blog had to stop.
Martha's head teacher told Martha the bad news, and Martha was sad and wrote a final blog post to say goodbye to her readers. The newspapers, the radio and the television all carried stories about Martha's blog. This was not at all what the officials wanted. A day later, they decided that Martha could continue writing her blog about her school dinners, and taking pictures of them.
1. Why does Martha write a blog about her school dinners?| A．She wants to learn to cook. |
| B．She is interested in the school food. |
| C．She wants the school food improved. |
| D．She is worried about the school food. |
| A．Martha's blog didn't reach far. |
| B．Martha's blog wasn't quite successful. |
| C．Martha's blog received wide attention. |
| D．Martha's blog helped to raise a lot of money. |
| A．The school food was unhealthy. |
| B．Martha gave bad comments on her blog. |
| C．The public thought poorly of the school food. |
| D．They were afraid the school food would be criticized. |
| A．Martha's great fame. |
| B．Support from the press. |
| C．The popularity of Martha's blog. |
| D．Support from Martha's head teacher. |
【推荐3】In an effort to control the nation’s growing problem with food wastage, the South Korean government has started a unique new plan—“Pay as You Trash (丢弃)”. Residents are required to separate their food waste from the rest of their rubbish and throw it separately into a centralized dustbin. And to access the bin, they actually need to pay by the kilo!
As of now, the South Korean government has three methods in place to charge citizens for the food thrown away. One is through an RFID (Radio Frequency identification) card—when users tap this card over a specially designed food waste bin, the lid (盖子) will open. This waste is automatically weighed and recorded in the user’s account. The user needs to settle this bill on a monthly basis.
The second billing method is through pre-paid garbage bags. For example, in Seoul, a 10-liter garbage bag costs around 1dollar. There’s also a bar code management system in place, in which citizens throw food waste directly into compost bins (堆肥桶) and pay for it by purchasing barcode stickers (条形码贴条) attached to the bin.
Nearly every suburban area in the nation is equipped with one of these three payment systems. Even before the pay-by-weight system was introduced, South Koreans were still being charged for food waste—the cost was simply divided equally among the residents of each apartment block. The new system is not only fair, but is also designed to make consumers feel the pinch of excessive (过度的) waste. The more food they throw out, the more they end up paying.
Citizens1ike Seoul housewife Ms Kwan are now adopting creative methods to avoid food waste. She makes sure to remove all the liquid out of leftover food before throwing it away. While preparing vegetables, she tries to use as much as the eatable parts as possible.
“Because I’m worried about the fees, I’m more careful about food waste now,” Ms Kwan said. “Our food waste has become much less than before.”
1. What do we know about the three payment systems?| A．A compost bin costs about 1 dollar. |
| B．All of them can weight the rubbish automatically. |
| C．The pre-paid garbage bags are charged on a monthly basis. |
| D．RFID cards can record the weight of rubbish users throw. |
| A．didn’t pay for their food waste | B．shared the waste cost equally |
| C．paid for their food waste by weight | D．had to pay for their food garbage bags |
| A．Suffer from financial stress. | B．Blame themselves. |
| C．Change their behavior. | D．Figure out the cost. |
| A．It is quite expensive to carry out. | B．It was thought to be unfair at first. |
| C．It is working effectively. | D．It is being tried out in some areas. |
【推荐1】In the last two weeks, the only things that have been thrown by Esther Penarrubia have been a broken toy, an old T-shirt used to clean shoes, a balloon from a party and the backing from a sheet of stickers. Ms Penarrubia, who has a PhD in agricultural engineering, realized that her lifestyle was called “zero waste” after watching a TED talk in November 2015.
It was when Ms Penarrubia moved house that she decided to remove single-use plastic from her life to reduce her family’s waste and thus changed her lifestyle.
Bulk (批量) buying, reusing old materials, searching second-hand shops and minimizing products which use plastic have been the key factor to her lifestyle, which sees her family send just one piece of rubbish to landfill every fortnight. Ms Penarrubia tries to remove all plastic products but if she does purchase any, like olive oil, she will bulk buy in a five-litre bottle and will recycle when finished. This also applies to cleaning products. Glass jars and containers are repurposed after use and kitchen leftovers go in the compost (堆肥) bin. The family grow their own tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli and herbs at home and also have orange and apple trees, while she buys fresh fruit, vegetables and bread in bulk from local suppliers for the week.
Ms Penarrubia believes changing to a zero-waste lifestyle is easier and cheaper than per-ceived, but admits the challenging part in convincing others that it can be achievable. She said, “If you think and organize your buying habits, consume less things from better quality, choose reusable alternatives, buy everything you can in quantity from the second-hand market—then it’s not more expensive and you can save money. “Zero waste” culture doesn’t only consist of the reduction of our waste, it involves a more conscious lifestyle and way of consumption.
1. What has Esther thrown during the past two weeks？| A．A balloon and an old T-shirt. |
| B．A broken toy and a pair of shoes. |
| C．An old T-shirt and some stickers. |
| D．A balloon and some glass containers. |
| A．Two weeks ago. |
| B．After watching a TED talk. |
| C．When moving into the new home. |
| D．After running a second-hand shop. |
| A．By eating less. |
| B．By running a second-hand shop. |
| C．By recycling and shopping smartly. |
| D．By making all the daily goods by herself. |
| A．It’s too expensive. | B．It’s within easy reach. |
| C．It’s unlikely to work. | D．It’s much more demanding. |
【推荐2】After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Wildlife research in the United States. | B．Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area. |
| C．The conflict between farmers and gray wolves. | D．The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park. |
| A．Forced out. | B．Separated. | C．Tested. | D．Tracked down. |
| A．Damage to local ecology (生态). | B．A decline in the park’s income. |
| C．Preservation of vegetation. | D．An increase in the variety of animals. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
【推荐3】Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable (一次性的) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers.
Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposables. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.
Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese person makes as much as 400 kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19,000 tons of plastic bags and 1,320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.
Back at home and school, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen, use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.
1. Why do many hotels provide guests with some disposable things?| A．Wish their guests to save money. |
| B．Hope their guests use less disposable things. |
| C．Want their guests to use more disposable things. |
| D．Let their guests be convenient during their travelling. |
| A．disposable things | B．cheap food and drinks |
| C．good service | D．free TV programmes |
| A．Making contrast. | B．Citing numbers. | C．Giving examples. | D．Telling a story. |
| A．Use shopping bags made of plastic. |
| B．Do not throw away paper cups. |
| C．Use disposable plates, bowls and chopsticks. |
| D．Do not forget to reuse daily necessities (日用品). |
【推荐1】EP Portable Heater
We all know that the cost of heating our homes will continue to be a significant burden on the family budget. Now millions of people are saving on their heating bills with the EP Portable Heater. With over one million satisfied customers around the world, the new EP heats better and faster, saves more on heating bills, and runs almost silent.
The EP has no exposed heating parts that can cause a fire. The outside of EP only gets warm to the touch so that it will not burn children or pets.
The EP will not reduce oxygen in the room. With other heaters, you’ll notice that you get sleepy when the heat comes on because they are burning up oxygen.
The advanced EP also heats the room evenly, wall to wall and floor to ceiling. It comfortably covers an area up to 350 square feet. Other heaters heat rooms unevenly with most of the heat concentrated to the center of the room. And they only heat an area a few feet around the heater. With the EP, the temperature will not vary in any part of the room.
The EP comes with a 3-year warranty (保修) and a 60-day, no questions asked, satisfaction guarantee. If you are not totally satisfied, return it at our expense and your money will be given back to you.
Now, we have a special offer for 10 days, during which you can enjoy a half price discount and a free delivery. If you order after that, we reserve the right to either accept or reject order requests at the discounted price.
Take action right now!
1. From the passage, we can learn that the EP __________.| A．runs without any noise | B．makes people get sleepy |
| C．doesn’t burn up oxygen | D．is unsuitable for children and pets |
| A．separately | B．equally |
| C．quickly | D．continuously |
| A．persuade people to buy the product |
| B．advise people to save on heating bills |
| C．report the new development of portable heaters |
| D．compare the functions of different heater brands |
【推荐2】Nowadays golf is a very popular game around the world and the golf course is usually Perfectly taken care of by the owners. When a golfer plays on any golf course, he or she expects the course has a lot of hazards（障碍区）like sands, woods, and ponds of water. There is one special golf course, though, where along with these hazards that stand still, the player must expect to compete against hundreds of moving hazards. The golf course is on Christmas Island. The island is an area of Australia in the Indian Ocean, the third largest ocean in the world, lying between Africa and Australia. The moving hazards are bright red, four-and-one-half-inch crabs, small creatures with five pairs of legs, carrying a shell.
Over 150 million of these brightly colored crabs live in the island’s rainforests. Every year, starting around November, the crabs migrate（迁徙）, that is, they leave the rainforest and make their way to the ocean. They arrive at the coast after one to three weeks. But the males return to the rainforest earlier than the females, who return about half a month later after producing up to 100,000 eggs.
On Christmas Island there is a golf course which was built on the crabs, migration route. During the migration season, there are hundreds of red crabs moving on the course. The rules of the Christmas Island Golf Club say that all players must treat the crabs as they would treat any other hazard. They cannot move them, and they must play around them. If a walking crab happens to knock a ball while it is on the green, hitting it into a hole, the ball is considered “in”.
The golfers must compete against a moving hazard, and actually so must the crabs. People have built roads that run through the crabs’ migration route. Unluckily, up to two million crabs are killed by passing vehicles every year. People are trying to reduce the number by putting up “Crab Crossing’’ signs and closing certain roads during the migration season.
1. What do we learn about the red crabs according to paragraph two?| A．They arrive in the rainforest in November. |
| B．They spend most of their year in the ocean. |
| C．The females spend two more weeks on the coast. |
| D．The males start to migrate earlier than the females. |
| A．can help protect the crabs |
| B．will attract more golf players |
| C．slow down the migration of the crabs |
| D．are designed to help improve the Golf skills |
| A．the crabs must face danger on the road |
| B．the crabs are quite perfect moving hazards |
| C．the crabs like competing against moving hazards as well |
| D．the crabs should choose the right route and season for migration |
| A．Funny Golf | B．Great Migration |
| C．Crab Crossing | D．Crab Hazards |
【推荐3】A small group of paleontologists (古生物学家) recently discovered 10 species of ancient mammals previously unknown to science with the help of an enormous number of helpers at their dig site: ants.
The study of ancient mammals sheds new light on the diversity of mammals that existed in North America around 33 million to 35 million years ago, when the climate was changing drastically. It also pays attention to the harvester ants, with which researchers have long had a love-hate relationship. “The ants are not fantastic when they’re biting you,” said Samantha Hopkins, a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon. “But I’ve got to appreciate them because they make my job a whole lot easier.”
Most species of harvester ants live in subterranean caves that sit beneath a small hill of dirt. They strengthen the dirt by covering it with bits of rock and other tough materials. The ants have been known to travel over a hundred feet from their caves and to dig six feet deep in pursuit of materials that help secure their caves. The materials include fossils. Harvester ants can carry materials 10 times to 50 times the weight of their body, although they do not weigh very much, so the heaviest fossil they can collect weighs less than the average pill.
Given the size, harvester ant hills are hot spots for what scientists call microvertebrate (微型脊椎动物) fossils, which are animal fossils too small to see without a microscope. For over a century, scientists like Dr. Hopkins have found sediment (沉积物) off the sides of harvester ant hills in search of these fossils, making it easier to find large numbers of fossilized mammal teeth without spending hours in the field sifting through sand and dirt.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?| A．To compare two different species. |
| B．To provide evidence for discoveries. |
| C．To introduce a kind of ant as a helper. |
| D．To promote awareness of mammal protection. |
| A．Climate change. | B．Ant numbers. |
| C．Cave materials. | D．Dirt locations. |
| A．Coastal. | B．Suburban. | C．Mountainous. | D．Underground. |
| A．Their caves are miles deep. | B．Materials with fossils are their food. |
| C．They can carry pills around. | D．Fossils may be found around their hills. |
【推荐1】How can a large city find water for 10 million people if it is in the desert? Fog-catching nets on hills around the city of Lima, the capital of Peru, could solve the city’s water shortages for good. A twenty-meter high net tower will soon be displayed in the city as a solution to the problem.
Peru’s capital city has just one inch of rain a year. The city sees high annual temperatures and water consumption rates. Located in a desert, the city’s temperatures are higher than world averages. However, a unique feature of Lima’s weather offers a way of meeting some of this demand. Located on the coast, Lima’s surrounding hills are constantly bathed in waves of fog coming off the Pacific Ocean, and the moisture (湿气) taken in by plants ensures they stay green year-round.
Inspired by fog nets placed by rural communities across the continent, Alberto Fernandez, a Chilean architect currently studying for a Ph.D. from University College London, has designed a series of towers and fog-catching nets. They can collect as much as 1,000 liters of water per day, amounting to 3.6 million liters per year, if enough are put into use. Their towering structure allows them to get into the clouds, collecting more vital water vapor (蒸气), and their unique shape means that no matter the direction of the wind, the moisture-rich fog will strike some part of the structure directly.
The water will largely be used for agriculture — as the water would require filtering (过滤) before consumption — helping free up resources for city residents. Cheaper than filtering water from the Rimac River, these towers and nets, which Fernandez says could be built up to 200 meters high, are part of a series of designs for the Lima 2035 project. It aims to change current desertification and create a new place for sustainable and human-centered food systems that promote healthy diets and improve incomes in the driest city on Earth.
1. What makes plants in Lima stay green year-round?| A．The heavy rainfall. | B．The high temperature. |
| C．The net tower. | D．The unique location. |
| A．The direction of the wind. | B．The moisture-rich fog. |
| C．The height of the tower. | D．The fog-catching net. |
| A．Supply drinking water. | B．Turn desert into rich soil. |
| C．Increase food production. | D．Develop healthy lifestyles. |
| A．Fog-catching towers help solve water shortage |
| B．The driest city on Earth faces a serious problem |
| C．Fernandez designed the first fog-catching net |
| D．Water plays a role in a sustainable food system |
【推荐2】When a global pandemic affects people’s activities, we have fewer chances to experience nature. So the hope is that an access-for-all and interactive project can reconnect us to nature.
BBC’s Soundscapes for Wellbeing is designed to offer people a way to enter the natural world at home. Listeners have been given access to a huge sound effects digital archive (档案) — 33,000 sounds with 17,000 new nature sounds to download — and use of an online mixer tool to make and share their own soundscapes.
The BBC’s Natural History Unit is the source for nature sounds in the effects archive. One of its secrets is that most videos for television are shot without sound and then carefully recorded audio is added to them. Everything from bird-of-paradise calls and giraffes feeding on acacia trees to wind blowing across the Sahara desert has been captured (捕捉) in sound recordings.
Another part of the project is the Virtual Nature Experiment, which pairs award-winning sound recordist Chris Watson and composer Nainita Desai with the University of Exeter to explore emotional responses to digital nature content. Audiences take part in a 10-minute-experiment, which includes watching video and answering a series of questions to help scientists discover how best to digitally bring the benefits of nature to people indoors.
People living in cities often struggle to access green space and lockdown measures across the world make that harder. Studies show the risks related with not being able to use outdoor spaces include stress, anxiety and other mental disorders, but also physical conditions like obesity and heart disease.
When people have trees and other vegetation near their homes, they report a greater sense of wellbeing and more satisfaction with where they live, according to the American Public Health Association. Green spaces also provide benefits such as better air quality, lowered flood risk, habitat for wildlife and plants, and community spaces where people can meet and exercise.
1. What’s the purpose of BBC’S Soundscapes for Wellbeing?| A．To shoot videos for television. |
| B．To offer digital nature sound effects. |
| C．To reconnect people indoors to nature. |
| D．To help people make their own sounds. |
| A．Living in the city. | B．Outdoor exercise. | C．Access to nature. | D．Scientific study. |
| A．A Project to Explore Nature | B．Capturing Sounds from Nature |
| C．People’s Life during Lockdowns | D．Getting Benefits from Digital Nature |
| A．A document. | B．A magazine. | C．A brochure. | D．A textbook. |
【推荐3】Many people, including some successful men, wear the same clothing daily to focus their decision-making energy on more important things.
Available online or from various shops, it allows everyone to adopt the latest fashion trends instantly. Though that sounds like a win-win for all, the rapid change in styles and the affordable prices result in impulse (冲动) purchases, many of which are thrown away after being worn just once or twice.
Julia's idea for the “One Outfit (服装), 100 Days” began as a comment she made to her husband during the summer.
| A．Julia is also tired of making decisions on small things. |
| B．The experiment has aroused curiosity of many students. |
| C．Julia's “One Outfit, 100 Days” challenge, however, has a selfless aim. |
| D．Thanks to Julia's idea, the whole school began to follow her challenge. |
| E．She hopes more people will learn from her and apply the 3Rs to their life. |
| F．Over 21 billion pounds of cloth ends up being waste yearly in the US alone. |
| G．Thinking further, she decided it would be a way to show her eco-friendly lifestyle. |
